Inferno
by Silent Bunshin
Summary: Naruto is a Fire Fighter working in a busy city. While working a routine house fire he discovers something 'strange' about himself. A serial arsonist is on the loose and Naruto has to stop him.  I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto does.  Naru-Saku/AU/OOC
1. Chapter 1: The Awakening

**Inferno**

The speakers click and the lights turn on. Naruto sits up abruptly from his recliner and starts to run to the pole in the dorm as the dispatcher makes the announcement.

"Attention Engine 3, Engine 2, Engine 11, Truck 4, Rescue 3, and District 1 Chief… Structure Fire 714 Marine St, cross of Savanna St."

The dispatcher gives the information a second time and Naruto is already down the pole into the engine bay getting dressed in his turn-out gear. He throws his jacket on quick and hops into the ladder truck. Naruto turns to watch out the front window as the large fire truck makes its way through traffic. Lights flashing, blaring siren and air horn honking the other motorists clear out of the way for the big red truck. As they turn onto Broad St, Naruto looks up to see heavy smoke coming from the area where the house fire is supposed to be.

"Looks like we got a good one Captain!" Naruto says while glancing over at his Captain, Kakashi.

Kakashi glanced back, "Settle down Naruto and focus on what you need to do once we get there, I want forcible entry tools, a pike pole and the attic ladder staged at the front door immediately."

Kakashi turned back to watch out the window and Naruto turned back around to strap on his air tank and get his mask ready. As they pulled up to the house, police were already on scene. Engine 3 connected to a nearby hydrant and had laid in the first few attack lines. Naruto grabbed his equipment and ran to the front of the house. He put his mask on and prepared to follow his captain into the fully involved residence. Inside it was hot and extremely dark. Naruto and Kakashi kept low to the floor as they started a primary search down the hallway for anyone who might still be in the building, as they made it closer to the back there was less fire and smoke. The door at the end of the hallway was shut and Naruto thought he could hear someone coughing on the other side.

"Captain! There is someone in there!" Naruto yelled through his mask.

Kakashi nodded and radioed back to command, requesting that they get an attack line in there ASAP to put up a water curtain in the hallway, so they could get the trapped person out safely. Naruto tried the door handle, but it was locked. Naruto mentally cursed. _Why did people always think a locked door would keep fire out? _Naruto got close to the door and yelled as loud as he could through his mask.

"This is the Fire Department, get away from the door, I'm kicking it in."

Naruto hear a muffled response and assumed the person on the other side heard what he said. He flopped over on his back and aimed his feet toward the door. He reared back and with one solid boot thrust the door frame disintegrated and the door flew open. Naruto crawled in and look quickly around the room for any sign of fire or smoke. There in the middle of the floor laid a young woman, soot stained her face and nose, but she was still alive, though barely breathing.

Naruto climbed over her and told her to grab his neck. He started to drag her back toward the door when the ceiling in the hallway ahead of him collapsed in on itself. Naruto mentally cursed. He could hear Kakashi yelling from the other side of the debris, worried about one of his brothers.

"I'm fine captain! I'll see you outside!"

He maneuvered his charge to head back to the room where he found her. He was going to have to find another way out, and fast. Flames started to lick inside the door frame and were rapidly consuming anything within reach as they spread across the ceiling of the room. This was getting ugly fast and Naruto knew that if he didn't get her out quick she would either die from smoke inhalation or the heat would simply kill her. He grabbed a blanket off the bed and wrapped her in it as best as he could and looked one more time around the room. The only option was a small window, but the opening was too small to squeeze through. He started getting scared. His mind raced and the woman he was supposed to rescue was starting to choke violently. The smoke was quickly overtaking her. Naruto squeezed his eyes shut. _What am I going to do? We are BOTH going to die!_ Suddenly, Naruto felt something. It started small, but quickly grew throughout his body. He felt POWERFUL. The presence kept growing and the seemingly most ridiculous idea completely made sense to him. He reached over and grabbed the dresser from the wall. It felt light as a feather to him. He reared back and threw it at the wall with the small window. The heavy dresser made a gaping hole in the wall. Still in a daze over what he did, he shook his head and grabbed the woman and jumped out of the new "exit" he had created and called for the medics. Once he handed the woman to the medics, he walked over to the ambulance. His shaky hands reached for a Styrofoam cup and walked over to the water cooler on the side of the fire truck. He placed the cup under the spout and then everything went black and he knew no more.

When Naruto opened his eyes next, he was in a small white room with a large curtain hanging from the ceiling, surrounding him and a bunch of beeping devices and monitors. He glanced around trying to make sense of where he was at and how he got here. The memories of the house fire came back to him, his search of the house and finding the woman, the roof collapse and the narrow escape. He thought about the strange presence he felt and how it helped him do something he would have thought impossible until then. As the memories flooded back he went to sit up. Pain instantly wracked his body and he fell back onto his bed with a groan of pain. The curtains quickly pulled aside to announce the entrance of the nurse, who heard him cry out. The blond headed girl smiled at him, before a scowl replaced it.

"You Firemen are all the same!" she chastised. "Always trying to play the tough guy; don't even THINK of getting out of that bed mister, you hear me!" She smiled again before turning to the monitor to read, whatever it was that she read on it.

"Your vitals are stable finally. You really did a number on yourself in that house. That woman was really lucky you were there to save her."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Is she ok? What happened to her?"

He went to sit up again and the nurse gently placed her hands on his shoulders, laying him back down on the bed.

"You worry about yourself first." Then she smiled. "The woman is fine. She is being treated for minor smoke inhalation, but she will make it."

Naruto sighed in relief. He looked at the nurses name tag. It read 'Ino.'

"Thank you Ino. I was really worried about her." He said and his head fell back onto the pillow. He succumbed to the unconscious.

Ino ruffled his hair. _A Hero and Humble she mused._ She smiled and was happy that there were still selfless people in the world like this man laying here in the bed. She pulled the covers up to his chin and walked out, closing the curtain behind her.


	2. Chapter 2: Mistreated

It had been two weeks since the strange occurrence at the house fire. Since then, Naruto has received several cakes, boxes of cookies and thank you letters from the woman and her family, thanking Naruto for his brave deed and saving the woman's life. Occasionally Kakashi would glance over at Naruto and an unspoken question would pass between them through the silent gaze. Naruto would just look away as if he were saying he didn't want to talk about it and Kakashi just bowed his head in respect of the unasked request. Naruto knew that Kakashi and the others at his station wanted to know the details of that day, but considering the emotional state that Naruto had been in lately, they decided it was better not to press the issue. Naruto had questions himself. Ever since then he has still felt the presence, although it was not as strong as it was that day, it was still very noticeable. It was like a warm sensation in the back of his mind. He sat near the window and watched the people outside walking up and down the sidewalk across the street at Ryan Park. Many of those people live in the large apartment complex right there next to the park. As he continued watching, he noticed something extremely contrast to the greenery of the park. A head of VERY pink hair walked out of the complex and into the park. It was that girl again. This was his favorite part of the day at the fire station. The beautiful young girl would walk out to the park with per little dog and take her for a jog around the park to get some exercise. He had always wanted to talk to her but was always afraid of her beauty; afraid of rejection. So he would just sit and watch, hoping that maybe one day she would notice him and maybe wave at him or stop by to say hello.

The loudspeaker clicked and the red lights on the wall turned on, another dispatch was coming through; a series of brush fires further downtown at Bienville Square. There was worry that the fire was going to spread to nearby buildings. Naruto quickly made his way downstairs and got on the truck. They made quick work of the fire and were able to keep it from spreading to the businesses across the street. As Naruto was rolling up some of the hose and placing it on the truck he overheard the chief talking to the on-duty Fire Investigator.

"This is the seventh fire in the last 10 days. Do we have any leads yet?" the chief had an irritated tone.

"No, not yet; although we do know that these fires have been started by the same person. The same method of delivery is being used and the accelerants being used are the same as well." The fire inspector rubbed his chin in thought, "I'll be working closely with the Police Department on this one to see if we can see anyone from the footage recorded by the street cams."

"Good. This person is getting really dangerous and the fires are getting more aggressive every time. This person needs to be taken off the streets a.s.a.p.!" the chief turned and headed toward his vehicle.

The pink haired girl watched as the fire trucks pulled out of the station across the street making a lot of noise as they headed off in the direction of the downtown area. She caught a glimpse of a blond haired boy looking at her from the passenger window of one of the trucks. She waved but they had already rounded the corner, off to do what they do.

She tugged on her dog's leash and they went back inside the complex. As she walked through the parking garage, she noticed Sasuke's car parked in its usual spot. He must be home early. She rode the elevator to the 11th floor and stepped out into the hallway leading to her apartment. She pushed the key into the lock and it turned with little effort. Her dog, Termite, ran inside once he was off the leash and jumped up onto the couch for a nap. She closed the door and then turned around to find a man standing right behind her. She let out a squeal before realizing it was her boyfriend Sasuke.

"Geeze Sakura, calm down. It's only me." He scowled and walked away from her toward the kitchen.

"What am I supposed to do when I suddenly find someone right behind me in my apartment?" Sakura said, clearly embarrassed.

"You mean 'our' apartment, don't you?" the raven haired man said, still scowling.

"Can't you ever smile for once, Sasuke? You always look like you hate the world." Sakura went to place her hand on his cheek but he pulled away and instead caught it in his own much larger hand. He started to squeeze and Sakura winced in pain.

"Sasuke you are hurting me." She tried to pry her hand from his but he was much stronger than her.

"How can I smile when you are out whoring to every man you see?" He growled as he tightened his grip on her hand.

"What are you talking about? LET GO!" Sakura suddenly fell on her back as Sasuke, apparently only on a whim, let go of her hand.

"You know exactly what I am talking about WHORE! I saw you waving at your secret boyfriend at the fire station. Don't lie to me!" He leaned down and slapped her across the face.

Sakura held her the side of her face trying to rub the sting out of where Sasuke had just slapped her. Tears started to fall from her eyes. "Sasuke, what's happened to you lately? You come home angry. You never act like you want to spend time with me. As a matter of fact, these last few weeks you seem like you can barely tolerate my presence. And…" she sniffed the air, "… what is that smell? Is that lighter fluid?"

"Shut up bitch and mind your own business!" He reached down and slapped her again with a back hand.

"What the HELL SASUKE!" tears freely flowing from her eyes and a bruise rapidly forming on her left cheek. "You know what? Get… the HELL OUT! Get out now or I'm calling the cops Sasuke!"

Sasuke glared at her, then her hand. She was holding her phone, her thumb over speed dial for 911. He mentally calculated that he could not get to her before she could at least call, then they would send units. He decided to instead, grab his keys and head toward the door. Sakura flinched as he walked past her. As he opened the door, he turned to her and said, "This is not over Sakura. _We_ are not over. Not until _I_ say we are over." He sent her one more glare before stomping out and slamming the door behind him.

Finally recovering from the ordeal Sakura, did the only thing that made sense at the time. She balled up on the floor and cried.


	3. Chapter 3: Smoke and Fire

Ino was a great friend. It didn't matter what Sakura called her for, she would always drop what she was doing and come right over with a 'recovery kit' that consisted of a large tub of Turtle Trax ice cream, some tissues and some kind of cheesy black and white movie that featured a man that was obviously too good looking for the part and a woman that wore way too much make-up. Sakura curled up in a blanket while Ino doled out scoops of ice cream into a large ceramic bowl.

"You know forehead" Sakura grimaced at the childhood nickname but listened nonetheless, "I always knew he was a cretin. I never understood what you saw in him to begin with. I mean, sure in the academy he was great and every girl wanted him, including me, but after what happened to Hinata, I saw Sasuke for what he truly was."

Ino and Sakura both shared a knowing look regarding the young Hyuuga girl.

**Time jump- 5 years prior**

Hinata and Sasuke had started dating around the end of their junior year. Over the summer they apparently took the next step in their relationship. Promptly after Sasuke dumped Hinata after he 'got what he wanted' from her and completely ignored her. Unfortunately for the Hyuuga girl, she started showing signs of pregnancy after the first few months of her senior year. She soon dropped out to take care of her new-born. Everyone wondered why Hiashi didn't pursue Sasuke as the father and demand he help take care of the child. It just seemed like the whole issue was swept under the rug. Hiashi disowned Hinata instead and told her to get out of his house, and never return. Kiba told her that she could stay with him. He had always liked her since the academy, but knew he never had a chance with her. He couldn't stand to see her hurt.

**Time jump- back to present**

Ino glanced up from her own bowl of ice cream.

"Of course, in the end it worked out for Hinata. Her and Kiba have been married for almost a year now, right?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, those two are inseparable now and Kiba takes care of Akame as if he were his own son.

Ino nodded knowingly. Then she placed her bowl on the coffee table by the couch and pulled Sakura into a hug.

"You are going to find someone special, Forehead. Just give it some time. You never know. 'Mr. Right' could be just across the street for all you know. So don't look too hard for him and let him do some of the foot work for a change." Ino smiled and gave Sakura's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Thanks, Pig. You really are a good friend." Sakura got up from her spot on the couch and grabbed the DVD. It was an old movie from the 1950s called "I'll Never Forget You." The two girls sat teary-eyed throughout the love story until the credits finally rolled at the end of the movie. Ino wiped her eyes with the tissues she brought with. The two girls hugged each other and Ino made her way out of the apartment and home. Sakura locked the door behind her and went to the bathroom to take a bath and prepare for bed.

The steam from the shower soothed her muscles and started to relax her body. She started to think about work and what she was going to do to hide the bruise on her cheek where Sasuke had slapped her. It wouldn't be so bad if she didn't have to face patients tomorrow.

Like Ino, Sakura worked at the hospital in the E.R. She had thought about becoming a practical doctor, but something about the emergency room and its quick pace appealed to her more. She felt like she could really make a difference and save lives in the E.R., instead of sitting behind a desk issuing prescriptions.

The water shut off and she stepped out to dry and put on her night clothes. After brushing her teeth, she lay down in her bed and closed her eyes. Sleep soon found her.

Naruto sat near his usual window at the station, watching cars drive by and people walk up and down the sidewalk. It had been a long day. He had been brooding over the discussion he overheard between the Chief and the Investigator. _So it seems like we have a serial arsonist on our hands. I hope they find him fast before more innocent people get hurt._

Naruto and the rest of the guys at the station finished their dinner and started to get ready for bed. '_Hopefully we will have a good night tonight,_' he thought. He laid his head down on his pillow and pulled his covers up to his chin and closed his eyes.

'Click'

The lights turn on and the loud speaker clicks, announcing an incoming dispatch.

"Attention all units, Multi-story structure fire, Tower on Ryan Park, 758 Saint Michael street, between Scott street and North Bayou street."

Naruto shakes his head to clear the fog of sleep and looked at his watch_. 'It's 1:30 in the morning! Scratch that, did she say Tower on Ryan Park?'_

Naruto jumped and slid down the pole to the engine bay and got dressed as fast as possible. He looked out the window to the apartment complex just across the street and his eyes widened. The whole sky was lit from the flames that were billowing from the 10th floor and quickly moving up to the next.

Sakura heard something loud beeping off to the side of her bed. She reached out from under the covers to hit the alarm clock. After multiple times slapping the annoying object with the sound not stopping, Sakura pushed the covers down off her head and immediately started to choke. There was a thick layer of smoke in her apartment and it was getting lower to the ground every minute. Quickly revisiting her childhood classroom activities of what to do when involved in a fire, Sakura got on the floor and started to crawl toward her front door. The smoke was getting thicker and it was hard for her to breathe. She finally makes it to her door, unlocks it and turns the knob, giving the door a good tug. It wouldn't budge. Getting low on air, Sakura frantically tried to pull the door open, but it was simply not going to open. Tears welled in her eyes and she crumpled to the ground in a heap. She was going to die. She closed her eyes and let the darkness of the unconscious take her. She knew no more.

Naruto made his way over to the building's alarm console. Most of the complex's tenants had already evacuated. As his eyes traced up the consecutive floors on the console, he noticed one door on the 11th floor had not opened yet. He looked at the name, **Haruno Sakura**. The light next to her name indicated she was still checked into her room. Naruto cursed and made his way to the stairs. He started to worry. He didn't know this 'Sakura' but he didn't want her to die. As he neared the 7th floor his legs started to ache. Carrying all his gear up those stairs was a tiring task. He could hear the radio traffic over his portable. The flames had now spread to the 11th floor. Naruto stared to panic. Was he going to make it in time? He started to feel that same strange presence again. His breathing leveled out and his body felt like it wasn't carrying any weight at all. He increased his pace to a sprint up the stairs, taking steps almost six and seven at a time, making his ascent impossibly fast for any normal person. However, Naruto's mind was far away from the question of what this power was. Right now, all he can think about is the girl still in her apartment, slowly suffocating. He reached the 11th floor landing and kicked the door open. Instantly he was greeted with heat. He made his way down the hallway to Sakura's apartment. He pushed on the door and noticed it didn't budge. That is when he noticed that the hinges to the door looked strange.

"They are welded! What the hell!" Feeling the surge of power from the unknown source again he grabbed a hold of the door frame and ripped the door out of the wall with ease. He saw something on the floor in front of him. He knelt down and noticed it was the body of a girl. He then noticed the pink hair and his blood froze.

'_It's the girl from the park!'_

He grabs a blanket that is lying across the back of her couch and wraps it around her to give her some protection from the heat. He picks her up and starts to make his way back to the stairs. He is almost there when part of the ceiling falls in, obviously overstressed from the supports being burned out. Naruto looks over to the elevator and a strange thought passed through his head. It seemed almost foreign. Definitely not his own thought, but he didn't have time to figure out who it belonged to, so instead he just listened to it.

"**Feel my power. Focus on your hands and slide down the elevator cable. Do it now or you and the girl are dead."**

Naruto didn't waste time arguing and did as he was instructed. He was shocked that the cable was not turning his hand into ground meat. He reached the bottom, his legs taking the impact with ease. Naruto ran through the main entrance and outside to the fresh air. He placed the girl on the ground and ripped his face mask off, discarding it to the side. He began to check the girl's vitals.

She had a pulse. That was good.

He placed his ear next to her nose and listened, waiting. His eyes widened in realization.

She wasn't breathing. He quickly started the steps for CPR, tilting her head back and clearing her airway. He placed his mouth over hers and gave her a breath of life. One more breath and he pulled back to listen.

She still wasn't breathing.

He gave her another breath, and another breath.

He paused, tears brimmed his eyes. He was not going to be able to save this girl. And then, her eyes snapped open and she cough violently. She gasped hard, her lungs burning for the life giving oxygen she had been deprived of.

It was a strange dream. Sakura walked down a hallway with many windows. Every time she looked in a window, she saw some part of her past. Memories. She briefly wondered why she was here. She neared the end of the hallway and there was a door with a bright light beaming from under the threshold. She stopped at the last window; her heart felt like it stopped in her chest. She watches the memory of herself trying to get out of her apartment. She suddenly remembers what happened.

"I must be dead." She started to cry. There were so many things she still wanted to do with her life. Now all of that was over because of a stupid door that would not open. She looked at the brightly lit door in front of her and wondered briefly if she should even bother. Her hand reached out for the door knob. Her slender fingers wrapped around it, and she gave it a quick turn.

Before she could pull it open, however, something 'grabbed' her by the waist and yanked her back, away from the door. She felt like she was choking again. Her vision went black.

Her eyes snapped open and she coughed violently. Sweet life poured into her lungs and she gasped for the much needed oxygen. Her vision began to clear. First all she could see was a blurry outline of a face, followed by some very blue eyes. Then she could see some messy, very sweaty and matted blonde hair. She felt something wet hit her face and she noticed that this person kneeling over her was crying.

"You're alive!" he shouted. He picked her up bridal style and yelled for a medic.

The blond haired man looked familiar to her but she couldn't place where she had seen him before. He looked down at her and smiled.

"You are going to be OK now. Don't you worry ok Sakura?"

She didn't have the energy to respond, so she just nodded her head. She didn't know this man, but she felt this strange sense of caring from him. Caring like she always wanted from Sasuke, but was always denied. She noticed the name stitched into his coat.

'_Naruto'_

Drained from the ordeal, she closed her eyes; a smile on her face.


	4. Chapter 4: Unusual

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

Sakura woke to the familiar beeping of a hospital monitor. Had she been so tired as to fall asleep at work? Her vision was blurry and the bright florescent bulbs of the hospital room blinded her further. She felt something foreign on her face and she reached up with her hand to examine it. Upon doing so she noticed wires and I.V. lines running from the side of the bed to her arm as she felt what must have been an oxygen mask on her face. '_Wait… I.V? O2 Mask? What the hell is going on?'_

She sat up and frantically pulled at the wires that connected her to the beeping machine, attempting to make sense of what this situation was all about.

Ino was at the end of her bed, doing her hourly patient check-up. She saw Sakura sit up with a confused look on her face which displayed panic at the unusual situation. Ino dropped her clip-board on the end of the bed and rushed to Sakura's side.

"Sakura! Calm down, you are OK now. You are in the hospital."

Sakura continued to flail her arms haphazardly.

Ino gently pushed Sakura back on the bed.

"Sakura, relax! Your apartment complex caught fire last night. The fire department pulled you out. You are fine now. Snap out of it!"

Sakura's eyes looked like a veil had been lifted; as if she only just now saw Ino standing over her.

Then it all came rushing back to her.

The smoke.

Coughing.

Trying to make it to her door only to be denied exit by some unknown force.

Resigning to her fate as she was completely sure she was going to die.

Then there was the strange vision she had. The memories of her life being played for her like home movies.

She looked at Ino, tears filling her eyes as she was remembering how easy she had accepted death.

Ino squeezed Sakura's shoulders reassuringly and gave her a sad smile.

"You know Forehead, you really had me scared! When they brought you in, you were barely breathing. They had to preform CPR to get you breathing again." Ino stared at her friend blankly as if she was forgetting something. A light flicked on in her mind and she grinned that mischievous grin she gets when she is about to say something embarrassing. "Also, you don't need to burn your apartment down just to get a cute guy to notice you ya' know?"

Sakura looked at her in confusion.

Ino noticed the look and continued, "Yeah, some really hot fire fighter brought you in, carrying you in his arms like the 'damsel in distress.' It was like something out of a movie!" She grinned and Sakura blushed at the thought of a total stranger carrying her so intimately.

Sakura thought for a moment. Why does that seem familiar? The rest of the night started to come back to her and her eyes widened in realization.

"Naruto!"

Ino glanced back down to her friend. "Ah, so you know his name, eh? Have you guys met before?"

Sakura shook her head. "No. I only vaguely remember the name tag on his coat. He was the one who carried me out of my apartment." She hung her head dejectedly. "He risked his life to save mine and I didn't even get to thank him for it."

Ino perked at that last statement and another impish grin adorned her face.

"Yeah too bad. I mean, I think if I were in your situation, I would just LOVE to thank my hero. I guess it is too bad you passed out, though."

Sakura's shoulders slumped even further. Ino excused herself from the room with a, 'I'll be right back' look. A moment later she walked back in. Ino looked back out the door and said something to someone just out of Sakura's vision.

"Now look, I shouldn't be doing this, since you aren't family to the patient, but given the circumstances I believe it's warranted. Just remember, she is still a recovering patient, but I am sure she will be glad to see you."

Sakura's interest was piqued completely as she stared at the door waiting for whoever it was to walk in.

Sakura watched as a tall blond headed man walked into her room. The first thing she noticed right away, were his bright cerulean eyes. He was wearing some thick yellow pants with suspenders and one of the local fire department uniform shirts, slightly un-tucked. His hair and face were coated in soot and he similar dark smudges on his yellow pants. Recognition dawned on her face and her jaw hung from her face. She looked at Ino, trying to make sense of what was happening and how her savior 'magically appeared' to come visit her.

Ino understood the unspoken question. "He stayed here all night Sakura. He was exhausted from the ordeal and had a few heat related injuries. We had put him in the adjacent room, but he was already up and about this morning." Ino then nodded to the blond man. The Blond man nodded back and stepped into the room, making his way to the chair next to Sakura's bed.

Ino smiled and politely excused herself from the room.

Naruto sat in the chair finding it difficult to make eye contact with the girl. Shyly, he glanced up.

"Hi." He said, scratching the back of his head with his hand; a habit he developed while nervous.

Sakura still in shock from meeting her rescuer face to face; shook her head clear and attempted to utter some kind of response.

"Hi." _'Great reply idiot,'_ she thought to herself and blushed a deep crimson.

Forcing her blush back down, she finally made eye contact with the man.

"Thank you." She said, barely audible.

They sat there in awkward silence for several minutes before Naruto stood from his chair.

"Alright then Ms. Haruno, I just wanted to see that you were OK. I should be going now, you need your rest."

He turned and started to head toward the door.

"Wait."

Her voice sounded strained, almost weak. He felt something grab his arm.

Naruto turned and found a pair of slender arms wrap around his torso, a head of pink hair under his chin. Unsure of what to do at first, Naruto resigned himself to just putting his arms around her, returning the embrace. He felt her shake in his arms and heard muffled sobs from his chest.

She was crying.

Sakura spoke through a tear strained voice, "Thank you so much. I owe you my life!" She whimpered and her knees grew weak. Her hold on him grew tighter the harder she cried.

"I would be dead right now if you had not come to save me."

Naruto scratched his head, unsure of what to say, so he decided to just the first thing that came to mind, "Hey, don't worry about it. I'd gladly do it again any time." He silently cursed his poor choice of words. "I mean, erm-uh, what I meant was…"

She looked up at him with red puffy eyes. Not her most glamorous look certainly, she thought. "It's OK, I know what you meant.

He felt her stumble so he picked her up and placed her back in the bed. After she was settled, he pulled her blanket up to her chin, and assured she was comfortable. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"I should go get the nurse to come check on you. Again, I am glad you are OK Ms. Harun-"

"Sakura." The pinkette interrupted. "Please. Call me Sakura. And it's OK, I'm fine Naruto. Just please stay with me for a while. At least until I fall asleep. I don't want to be left alone right now."

"How did you, know my-"

"It's on your name tag silly." She laughed stuffily from her crying.

Naruto blushed in embarrassment. Complying with her request he pulled his chair close to the bed and stayed with Sakura until she fell asleep.

Naruto sat there for a while, just listening; listening to her breathing as it evened out and the rhythmic beep of the hospital monitor. When he was confident that she was asleep he gently slipped out of the hospital room. He met the familiar face of the blond nurse from earlier.

"It must be nice to have your own personal guardian angel."

Naruto blushed. "I just did what I was trained to do. I was just lucky that I got to her in time."

Naruto thought about last night and that strange presence that seemed to empower him. It was still an enigma to him. Any time he tried to focus on it inside his mind, it always seemed to be just out of reach. Other than those two times that it came to him, he has never been able to replicate the feeling on his own. He glanced down at his injured arm and hand. As strong as he felt last night, he still got hurt. While his hand wasn't absolutely destroyed as it should have been from sliding down that elevator cable, he still didn't escape injury free. His hand was still slightly cut even though it was protected from that strange power he felt.

Ino noticed the blond man looking at his wounded hand.

"Here let me look at that again for you."

Before he could react, the girl hand his hand firmly in her grasp, removing layers of bandage. As she removed the last layer she gasped. Under the bandage was fresh skin were the cut should have been. It was as if there wasn't even a cut to begin with.

'_I bandaged his hand last night myself. I KNOW there were lacerations to his palm, yet it's completely healed, as if there was never an injury at all.'_

Ino finally found her voice, "Yeah, you were lucky indeed." Naruto broke from his musing to see Ino staring at him questioningly. He suddenly felt like a bug under a microscope. Ino rubbed her chin in thought. "After I treated your injuries I spoke with the other fire fighters that came in with you. They told me something very interesting." She gave him a 'no-nonsense' look and continued with her 'interrogation,' "I am one of Sakura's best friends. I know she lives on the top floor. I find it amazing that you had the stamina to run up 11 flights of stairs, find Sakura, and then make it back down without help."

"Well, you see Miss-"

"Ino, call me Ino please."

"Right, well you see Ino, we are all physically conditioned to complete tasks like that. It's part of our job as firemen."

'_Bullshit, there is more to it than that' _Ino thought to herself.

She wasn't backing down without an answer.

"I understand all that, but what I want to know is how you managed to do all that in just a few minutes. It would have taken someone in top physical condition at least 5 minutes just to get upstairs, not to mention carrying another person back down. On top of that, your own crew men said that you weren't even slightly winded. It was as if it was as simple a task as breathing or you." She continued with the questioning gaze. "Not to mention the miraculous recovery of your hand injury."

Naruto began to shrink under the scrutinizing gaze. He wasn't even sure himself what was going on, how on earth was he going to explain it to someone else. It was all too sudden for him to think logically. Luckily, his pager beeped, giving him a stay of execution.

"Ah look at that, gotta go, sorry!" He turned and ran, literally, as fast as he could toward the stairwell.

Ino huffed at being dismissed so easily.

Something didn't add up. Several things were out of place in this puzzle known as 'Naruto.'

Yes, Ino Yamanaka was going to get to the bottom of this mystery. She was going to get answers.

A thought occurred to her and she smiled. She walked over to the reception counter and checked the files that were in the 'admitted' box. Finding what she was looking for, she smiled. Inside the file was a driver's license.

The blond in the picture had the largest grin you could imagine and the brightest blue eyes you had ever seen. A plan began to formulate in the platinum blonde's mind as she decided what she had to do next.

She snagged the license from the folder and went back to her rounds, confident that the discussion she had with this mysterious fireman was far from over.


	5. Chapter 5: Encounter

Sorry for the delay in updating this story. I have been very busy with my work and school, as well as tending to my 3 year old daughter's needs. I finally finished finals for my networking class, and my next class is just a filler class, so hopefully I can manage more frequent updates as my inspiration will allow. Anyhow, without further ado, here is the next chapter of inferno.

It had been a few days since the apartment fire… A few days since he held the pink-haired Haruno in his arms… A few days since that uncomfortable discussion with Ino. Naruto didn't like where that conversation was going. The last thing he needed was people thinking he was some kind of freak, or trying to pull him into labs for experimentation. Hell, he didn't even know what was going on himself, and that scared him. He was off work today and enjoying a bit of sunshine on his way to the market. He was running dangerously low on ramen and needed to restock his apartment.

His apartment was actually the old Chief's Quarters, a remnant of another time when the fire department used to actually live at the fire station with their families. It wasn't much, but it was a place to stay.

As he walked he thought back to the ay when he joined the department, and asked Kakashi one of the hardest questions he ever asked.

*FLASH BACK*

_A few years ago – Naruto's high school graduation_

_Naruto was waiting patiently in line. Today was they day he graduated and moved on to college. He was so excited. His eyes passed over the guests in attendance, trying to pick out the faces of his mother and father in the crowd. He noticed that quite a few of the other parents were on the stage waiting to congratulate their child on their accomplishment. Naruto figured they were probably already behind the stage waiting for their turn to come out. As he heard his name called he grinned as bright as the sun. As he walked across the stage, his dad's friend, and surrogate uncle, Kakashi was waiting for him. Even though this was a happy day, however, Kakashi was not smiling. Naruto's smile withered as he walked closer and noticed Kakashi's expression never changed. He looked… broken. Naruto finally reached him and Kakashi bent down, whispered something in his ear, then he placed a hand on his shoulder. Naruto just stood there dumbly. Then slowly, one by one, tears began to mar the boy's face. Kakashi directed the boy off stage. Once backstage, Naruto, finally understanding the gravity of what he was just told, broke down and began to cry uncontrollably; the memory so fresh still replaying over and over in his mind._

'_Naruto,' Kakashi whispered to him. 'I'm so sorry, but your parents were killed in a car accident on the way here.'_

_For the first year after Naruto tried his best to find work and support himself and his parent's house, but it just proved to be too much for the young boy. The bank foreclosed on the house since Naruto couldn't pay the steep mortgage notes his parents used to take care of. That is how he found himself at the steps of the fire station, asking Kakashi for a job and a place to stay._

_*PRESENT*_

Naruto was filling his shopping cart with the essentials he needed back home. Currently he was in the frozen desert section, trying to find another 'essential' he 'needed'. Icecream. He reached into the cooler and selected his tasty necessity. As he turned back to his cart he bumped into someone.

"Oops, sorry sir!" he quickly said.

"What the hell _dobe_! Why don't you watch where you are going, eh?" A raven haired man glared at him, eyeing him as if he wasn't even good enough to be the dirt on his overpriced shoes.

Naruto, clearly not liking the tone of this man, or being treated like that replied in kind, "Oh, sorry _teme_, I didn't know there were kids running lose in the store. Where is your mommy at?"

The retort clearly irked the raven-haired man as his face turned red from anger.

"Do you know who I am? I am an Uchiha. When I walk, people get out of my way!" The angry man gestured to the side as he yelled.

Naruto, not to be out-done was already on the next comeback, "Well do you know who I am? I am a fire fighter, and when something gets in my way, I usually just punch a hole in it or destroy it completely." As an afterthought he added, "By the way, you are _in_ **my** way."

Naruto smirked at the Uchiha man clearly steaming in front of him. He left his arms at his side, ready in case the man tried something funny.

The Uchiha sized up Naruto, who was a whole foot taller than him, and much wider in the shoulders, then at all the other customers watching this little scene unfold, and decided now wasn't the time for a fight.

He looked back at Naruto, "What's your name?"

Naruto, after realizing the man wasn't going to make a move, couldn't resist one more jab at the man. He placed his hand out for the other man to shake it.

"Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto. Pleased to meet you!"

The Uchiha looked at his hand, then back to him. He walked past Naruto. As he rounded the end of the aisle, he turned back.

"This isn't over Uzumaki. Not by a long shot. I'll be seeing you again real soon."

With that, the raven-haired man left.

Naruto let out a sigh. He looked at an elderly couple who had been drawn into the 'drama in aisle 5.'

"Great day for shopping ain't it?" He smiled and went about his business.


	6. Chapter 6: Urges

I would like to address a concern from one of my readers.

Reader: Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain

-Reader posted in review of this chapter: "Oh...joy.

Using rape as the drama device is well. Poor. Disgusting to further the plot of a story.

Don't say the rape is need in the story and is required. There is no good reason for it in any sequenance to begin with just to further a plotline. That just poor thought really. Also don't say this is need or even just an instance because just makes the sense of belittling something disgusting that really shouldn't be done.

Somehow this is done as a easy way of you doing the plotline advancement of the "shock value" for the the drama. Sadly, poor choice of doing a plot story.

Laters."

I am unhappy about receiving this review for a few reasons. One: it's a flame with no constructive criticism. Two: I feel that I may have offended other readers, and this particular reader was the only one to speak up. There are thousands of well-respected published books and articles that are even more graphic than the scene I have written, and they are the entire foundation of the story being told. So please before you berate me, do your homework.

I will now state my intentions.

The scenarios in this story are written on a whim. I am a free flow writer, and I do not claim to be a good one. I write for recreation. Furthermore, I am offended that my story was not given a chance to be completed before conclusions were drawn as to what drives my story. I have already sent a lengthy PM to this individual stating my intentions for this story, with a few requests of my own.

So, ending that rant, I would like to warn you readers that this chapter contains material that some may find offensive. If you do not have the maturity to read a rape scene, please do not read any further.

Also, this chapter has been revised as of 6/6/2011 due to some content and grammatical errors. Im sure I haven't corrected them all but all I can do is try :D.

And the show goes on…

Ino sat at her desk pondering the events over the last few days. Sakura's argument with Sasuke, the apartment fire that almost claimed her best friend, and then there was Naruto. He was an enigma. The seemingly impossible feats he pulled off that night were too astounding to ignore. Even his own crew had said what he did was beyond impossible. She furrowed her eyebrows in irritation. Something was off about that Naruto. She just didn't have an inkling of what it was.

The door to her office opened and she looked up to notice a head of pink hair enter the room.

"I know that look," Sakura said, closing the door behind her.

"What look?" Ino replied, trying to play dumb.

"Ino, how long have we known each other? I can tell when you are up to something, you know." Her no-nonsense gaze brooked no room for argument.

"I was just thinking about you and how glad I am you are ok." She half-lied. "You really scared us all."

Sakura accepted the lie and nodded. She almost died in that fire. If it weren't for that Naruto guy, she would be in a pine box right now. Sakura, tried to picture his face. She had been sort of infatuated with him since that night, but she was in recovery, and didn't really have the opportunity to talk with him more. She really wanted to see him again, outside the hospital, to thank him. Maybe she would take him to lunch. Everyone knew fire fighters had huge appetites. She was broken from her thoughts by Ino calling her name.

"Sakura? You ok?" Ino looked at the pinkette with concern.

Sakura blushed. She was letting this man dominate her thoughts and she was already losing track of her tasks.

Ino noticed the blush immediately.

"Thinking of your blonde hero from the other night?"

Sakura's cheeks now matched her hair.

"Well wouldn't you Ino? He saved my life. Not to mention he is really cute." Her eyes focused on the desk to keep from having to meet her friends gaze. "There was something about his eyes, like he has seen a whole world and more. When he looked at me, there was so much caring there. How could a complete stranger care so much for someone he doesn't even know?"

A light bulb turned on in Ino's head. This was going to be one of her best ideas ever, and it was going to kill two birds with one stone.

"It seems to me you need to find this 'Naruto' and learn more about him. If you like him as much as I think you like him, and he likes you obviously by what you say…" She stood from her desk and raised a lecturing finger to drive home the point…"then it would be a great injustice if you two do not date at least once!" She crossed her arms under her breasts and stared at her pink-haired friend.

Sakura smiled.

"You're right Ino. Sasuke is out of the picture. He treated me like dirt anyway. It's time I found someone worthy of my affections." She smacked her fist into her palm for emphasis. She looked at her best friend. "I've got a fire fighting hunk's heart to capture!"

With that, she turned and walked out the door with her head high, feeling better than she had in a long while. Someone out there cared for her, and she was going to find him and return those feelings if he will let her.

As the door closed, Ino smiled at her own craftiness. If Sakura started dating the blonde fire fighter, she would have an "in" and be able to unravel the mystery that is Naruto.

It was late at night by the time Sakura left the hospital. '_These 16 hour shifts are going to kill me yet.' _She thought to herself. She was walking to her car in the parking garage, digging through her purse for her keys, when she heard the sound of footsteps behind her. She turned, can of mace in hand, but no one was there. She looked around the poorly lit garage and continued moving toward her car, this time a little more hurried than when she started. As she neared her car she heard the footsteps again, this time right behind her. She wheeled around and pointed her pepper spray up in the air only to have her wrist caught in a very strong grip. She was quickly disarmed of her defenses and pressed up against a pillar by a man wearing a hooded sweat shirt.

"I told you Sakura, " the cold voice hissed, "_We_ are not over unless _I_ say we are over."

Sakura's eyes widened at the voice she was so intimately familiar with.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke laughed at her surprise.

"It's good to see you haven't forgotten me." He slid his leg in between Sakura's thighs and pressed his knee into her groin. "Let's hope that _all_ of that body remembers me."

Sakura flushed from the contact, but in total disgust. Sasuke licked and sucked on her neck, while keeping her firmly pinned to the pillar. He reached down with his free hand, into her blouse and grabbed a handful of bra and flesh. Sakura struggled to break free, but Sasuke was just too strong. She struggled until she just didn't have the energy anymore. Her body went slack, and Sasuke took this as compliance to his advances. He reached down to undo his pants.

"I'm going to show you what it means to _belong_ to an Uchiha." His pants undone, he yanks her skirt up and grabs the hem of her panties. With one hard pull they rip. Something inside Sakura stirred and she knew that this was going to be it. She was going to be raped, and to make it worse it would be at the expense of her dignity and virginity. Despite Sasuke's advances in the past, she always insisted on waiting for marriage. So now, Sasuke was finally going to get what he wanted. With nothing left in her, she did the only thing she could. As Sasuke entered her, she screamed.

Naruto walked up and down the halls of the hospital. He couldn't seem to get the pink haired girl off his mind. Passing nurses would blush as he passed by, whispering to each other. Naruto assumed they were talking silly girl talk about the 'fire man' in the hallways. He made his way to the receptionist clerk at the nurse's station.

"I'm looking for Nurse Ino." Naruto said shyly. "Is she in today?

"We have a Doctor Ino, if that is who you are referring to, sir." The young girl replied, blushing under the gaze of the blonde man.

"Ah yes, Doctor Ino. Is she in? I wish to speak with her." He replied, slightly frowning.

Usually most people would be put off by a frowning man, but for some reason the girl thought it looked endearing on him. She blushed even harder and turned her gaze to some papers that were suddenly very interesting.

"Sorry sir, but Dr. Yamanaka is busy with a patient right now. Let me check and see if Dr. Haruno is available." The nurse picked up the phone and punched a few numbers.

'_Dr.' Haruno? Great job Naruto, you fell for someone way out of your league.'_

Naruto shook his head clear of his thoughts. He would deal with that hurdle later.

"Dr. Haruno will be fine to talk to, " He said "Is it ok to speak with her now?"

The girl hung up the phone and shook her head, "Sorry sir, but she just left only a few minutes before you came here asking. You just missed her."

'_Crap. Well she couldn't have gotten too far. Maybe she was still here. Nah, that'd be weird and stalker-ish. Best to just try again tomorrow'_

Naruto thanked the girl and headed toward the parking garage. He didn't show it, but he was disappointed that he didn't get to meet with the pinkette.

Naruto exited the elevator and headed toward his car. He fumbled in his pocket for his keys.

'_I wonder if she even remembers me. Of course she remembers me, she kept thanking me over and over. I gotta remember though, she is a doctor. Way out of your league Naruto. Don't get your hopes up.'_

Naruto was so distracted by his self-deprecating berating he almost didn't hear the muffled scream come from the other end of the parking garage. Naruto stopped to listen again to make sure he heard right. Another scream. This time it was blood curdling. At this point nothing was more important than helping whoever was screaming for help. As he ran the screaming god louder and louder, each one punctuated by a female voice sobbing and a male voice grunting. Naruto's blood ran cold at the thought of what was surely happening to the poor woman. He rounded the corner to see a man with his pants around his ankles on top of a hysterical woman. He growled in anger, almost feral like and ran over to the man committing the horrible deed. He ran over and grabbed the man by the back of the sweatshirt, and without even thinking turned the offender around and slugged him as hard as he could, catching him square in the jaw. The assailant went down and grumbled something indiscernible. Naruto turned to check on the poor young woman who had been subjected to such a horrible act. He saw a head of pink hair and he froze.

"S-Sakura?"

Naruto was dumbfounded. Sakura looked at Naruto, but it was almost as if she didn't see him. As if she were only aware that another male presence had appeared in front of her. She quickly snapped out of her stupor and yelled at the new-comer.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! GET AWAY FROM ME! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME ANYMORE!" She scrambled away from the blonde and up against a nearby car. She stayed huddled there, shaking uncontrollably. The pinkette curled up in a ball and continued crying, all the while repeating, 'please don't hurt me anymore.'

Naruto's heart died then. Such a nice girl. Such a horrible act. Something inside him snapped.

He turned to face the bastard that called himself a man, only to be met with a punch equally as fierce as he issued only moments ago. Naruto looked up into a pair of red eyes, punctuated by three commas around the pupil.

'_What the fuck? What's up with those eyes?'_

"You dare interfere with me and my girlfriend? Do you know who you just messed with?" The Uchiha glared at the blond man in front of him. "You have just sealed your fate _dobe_. I'm going to **kill** you where you stand."

Naruto still freaked out by the man's eyes didn't even see that he was now right in front of him, winding back a hard right hook. Naruto was no street fighter by any means, but years of growing up by yourself and living with rough, rowdy fire men taught you that you needed to know how to take care of yourself. Naruto brought his arm up to block and went to counter with a left jab. Naruto was confident he was quicker than the man in front of him, but seemingly at the last minute the man dodged the punch, almost as if he knew what Naruto would do to counter, and countered with his own punch to Naruto's side. Side stepping the blonde, the man gracefully swept passed Naruto, locking his other arm and the flipping him with the momentum.

Naruto landed on his face with a thud. Almost as soon as he landed the impossibly fast 'sweater wearing super ninja' was on Naruto's back, pulling both of his arms back, while his foot pressed down on Naruto's neck.

"This is your fate for crossing an Uchiha." Sasuke smirked, basking in his soon to be had victory over the larger man. He pressed his foot harder into Naruto's neck. "This is lights out _dobe_. Pity you didn't put up a better fight than that; but it was to be expected. "He grinned evilly at the blonde haired man under his feet. "Your fate was decided the moment you decided to throw the first punch at me. Now DIE!"

Sasuke pressed his foot down as hard as he could on Naruto's neck, trying to break it.

'_I'm going to die. I can't fucking believe this is the way I die. THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!'_

**NO! You will not die here. Taste true power and know that your rightful place is above that bastard Uchiha.**

Naruto recognized the voice. It was the same voice that spoke to him the night he saved Sakura from the fire. But this time is was completely clear. It was so loud in his head that it dominated his very being.

Now Naruto felt like he wasn't going to die. In fact he _knew_ he wasn't going to die. If anyone was going to die, it was going to be the bastard holding him down.

Sasuke's eyes widened at the sight in front of him. His foot was being pushed back by, well, he wasn't really sure how to explain it to himself rationally. It looked like… tails. Red, glowing tails.

There was a pulse of energy and Sasuke's vision went white momentarily. When his vision cleared, he saw something in front of him that shook him to his very core. No longer was there a blonde haired man in front of him. What stood before him now was something altogether different. It still resembled the blonde haired man, except that his features had taken on a very feral and beastly look. Elongated canines peeked out from under his lip. Dark whisker marks appeared on his face and his hair seemed to grow wilder by the second. The most disturbing feature however, wasn't any of these changes in appearance. The blonde's blue eyes were no longer human. They were now a fire red, slit pupils bisecting each eye.

No, this was no longer a man. This was a monster. Sasuke shook himself from his shock. He was Uchiha. He was superior to all men.

Naruto glared at the man in front of him. He felt an immense power coursing through himself right now. Comparing the power he felt now to the apartment fire a few days ago, was like comparing a mountain range to a tiny pebble. The well of power he felt seemed without limit. He focused back on the man in front of him and readied himself. He was shocked at this new feeling. It was something he thought he would never be able to accept in his entire life.

It was a feeling dark and sinister.

It was an urge to kill.


	7. Chapter 7: A Hero Emerges

AN:

Sorry for the wait guys and gals, but here is the next chapter in my story _Inferno_.

I hope you all are enjoying it so far.

Again, I am open to any criticism, so long as you offer a way to try and make it better and not just a flame.

Thanks for the reviews thus far, keep them coming. If you please, suggest this story to your friends or anyone else you think may like to read this story.

Without any further delay, I present Chapter 7 of _Inferno_ titled: A Hero Emerges.

Naruto bared his fangs as he stared into the blood red eyes of the man in front of him. His reasoning had left him the moment the presence of power took hold of his mind. All that remained was a deep bloodlust that he intended to sate by killing this man. Nothing else would suffice. The Uchiha watched the abomination in front of him, disgusted by the complete loss of humanity displayed in front of him, but there was also another feeling. It was something that the Uchiha had never felt until this day, this very evening, in this encounter, that could only have happened by the interventions of fate.

It was fear. Pure and unadulterated.

His hands trembled slightly, but his countenance remained stoic. He watched the demonic figure in front of him, his strange eyes scanning every inch of Naruto's body, looking for the subtle muscle twitches that were precursor to movement. To his eyes, Naruto was eerily still. Then, his eye caught the slightest twitch and he reacted immediately, jumping to the right as a clawed hand swiped the air where his head was just a second before. Had he not moved, Sasuke was certain he would have lost his head.

Naruto looked confused. How had he missed? He was certain he was fast enough to land the blow, but it never even touched the Uchiha. He emitted a growl as he refocused on the figure before him. But just as soon as his eyes set on the man, he vanished from sight. The only warning he had to the attack from behind was the sound of metal slicing through the air. Naruto ducked in time to see a hand pass over his head, firmly clutching a very sharp knife. A few severed pieces of his hair flitted to the ground, indicating just how close the knife came to making contact with his flesh. He immediately whirled around and threw a hard left hook; only to have it met with an equally resilient block from Sasuke's other hand. The two stared at each other before separating and preparing for the next move. Naruto was standing under one of the lights, and sudden realization dawned on the Uchiha's face.

"You're that idiot from the store." He said, more than asked. "Good, this will make things easier."

Naruto was confused by this strange interaction all of a sudden and was momentarily distracted; trying to discern what it was the Uchiha was talking about. Sasuke noticed the slight hesitation and was about to make his move when heard the sound of police sirens entering the parking garage.

"You're lucky I don't want any bad publicity _dobe_. Otherwise, you'd be dead. You and I will finish this another time." The Uchiha smirked and vanished from sight just as Naruto leapt at him.

Naruto roared in frustration that his 'prey' had gotten away. The voice in his head began to speak soothingly to him.

'**Easy child. You will have your chance. For now, know that I am with you. I will help you kill that Uchiha bastard. Go now. The pink-haired girl is waking. It would not do well for her to see you like this.'**

'_Who are you and how is it that I can hear you in my head.'_

'**All will be answered in time. For now, leave me be, I must rest.'**

The presence faded and Naruto felt incredibly drained. He immediately collapsed onto the pavement, holding himself up on all-fours, breathing heavily. The sirens were getting louder. He crawled across the floor of the garage, making his way over to Sakura. He scooped her up in his arms and she whimpered at the contact.

"Shhh, it's ok Sakura. It's me, Naruto. I'm going to take you to the hospital." He cradled her in his arms and started for the elevator.

Recognition quickly spread across her face and her arms quickly wrapped his neck in a tense embrace.

"No… P-please, just t-take me home. I wanna' go home."

Naruto frowned. The EMT in him said he should take her to the hospital to get checked out, but the Fire Fighter in him just wanted to make her feel safe. If going home was what would do that for her, then who was he to argue. He carried her all the way to a city bus stop, paid both fares and kept a firm embrace on the shivering, shaken woman. He looked over at the pinkette, who was still staring into nothingness. His heart broke that such a nice girl experienced something so vile. He would take care of that bastard even if it cost him his last breath.

Sakura just sat in silence. Her mind constantly replaying the images in her head like a bad horror flick stuck in the same scene, repeating with no end. She looked over at the man that came to save her. The first thing she noticed was the deep blue of his eyes. Her gaze traveled down the curves of his facial features and noticed his mouth was drawn into a deep frown. She always remembered him smiling such a carefree smile each time she had encountered him, so why such a dramatic change? Again, she was assaulted with the haunting memories of what happened no more than an hour ago. The hot breath on her face. The unwanted and rough kisses tracked down the length of her neck. Worst of all, the loss of her sense of security from a man- no, he was **no man**. A vile snake _dressed_ as a man, _pretending_ to be a man, but still a slithering, disgusting **snake**. She looked back up to the sad countenance of her hero and noticed his look of worry was still intense and solely focused on her. She looked away, unable to bear his gaze any longer.

"Please don't look at me. No one will want to look at me after tonight."

She felt dirty, used and discarded. She felt as though she no longer held any worth. She felt completely open and vulnerable to the world. Fresh tears began to fall from her eyes as her anguish was renewed.

"Sakura."

The pinkette continued crying.

"Sakura."

Naruto watched as the girl closed her eyes and cried harder than he had ever seen anyone cry before. He placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in to comfort her. She pulled away at first, alarmed by the contact that drew her out of her world of sorrow, but settled back into his embrace and cried even more.

Naruto ran his fingers through her pink locks while whispering calming words, trying to soothe her.

"Don't worry Sakura, I'll get you home and make sure you are taken care of."

He thought for a moment about the situation. He was still bleeding from his fight with Sasuke. He also had a girl who was mentally fragile and will, despite the notion that he is helping her, probably have a mental breakdown as a result of being in her apartment alone with a male. He only knew a little bit about the emotional effects of rape from his medical courses on the fire department, but he knew enough to know that this girl was going to need female company for tonight and for a while after. He looked back down to the girl as an idea formed in his head.

"Sakura, do you have a friend that can stay with you tonight? A girl I mean?"

She only nodded her head and muttered, "Ino."

"Is her number in your phone? Can I call her?"

Again the girl only dumbly nodded to him as she continued to whimper and sob. She reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone, handing it to the blonde.

He flipped it open and began scrolling through the phone book.

Ino walked into the break room. It had been a long night. She was hungry and tired. She walked to the shift refrigerator and pulled out her Tupperware container that contained her meal for the night. She heated it in the microwave and sat at the table. She was just about to take a bite when she heard a buzzing sound coming from her locker. She muttered something about never getting to enjoy a hot meal and pulled open her locker, pulling out her cell phone. She flipped it open and looked at the caller ID. Sakura.

'_Sakura should be home asleep already. Why is she calling me at the early hours of the morning.'_

She flipped open the phone.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Ino?" Came a worried male voice.

Ino's heart sank. Why was a man calling her from Sakura's phone? And why did he sound so upset?

Ino quickly recovered her composure.

"Who is this?" She asked, worried for her friend.

"Dr. Ino! Thank God you answered! It's me Naruto, the Fire Fighter from a while ago. Listen I don't have a whole lot of time to explain, but you need to get over here to Sakura's apartment now. She's been… hurt."

Ino's eyes widened as she wondered what he meant by 'hurt.'

"Alright, I'll be right over."

Ino ran to the nurse's station and grabbed the charge nurse.

"You are in charge till I get back. Sakura has been hurt, so I am leaving to go see what this is all about. I'll be back when I have the situation under control. If there is an emergency, call Dr. Tsunade. Explain to her why I am gone, she will be glad to come in if needed.

Ino made it to Sakura's new apartment in record time. She walked in to find Sakura curled up in the fetal position in Naruto's lap, sobbing like a child and shivering as if she were freezing despite the blankets covering her body.

The blonde looked up to the new arrival and placed his finger over his lips, asking her to be quiet. Ino nodded and then gestured to the kitchen. Naruto patted Sakura's head.

"Sakura, I will be just over here in the kitchen, Ino is here and I need to talk to her."

The pink haired girl just nodded and curled up in the warm spot left on the couch cushion by the blonde man.

Ino gave Naruto a stern look. She crossed her arms under her breasts as she waited for his answer.

"What happened?" was all she could say, worry written on her face as she glanced back over to her friend crying on the couch.

"Ino, look… I don't know an easy way to say this, but Sakura was raped tonight."

He continued with the following events and the fight, though he left out the bits about how his power surfaced again.

To say Ino was shocked was an understatement. Her jaw hung open and tears started to brim her eyes as those few horrific words settled into her brain. She turned and immediately headed for her friend when a hand grabbed her arm. She turned to see Naruto looking at her with a look of concern, and something else. She couldn't be sure being in the emotional state she now found herself in, but it looked like anger- no this was something deeper than anger. This was a look of pure hatred.

"Naruto, what is it? I need to go to Sakura now."

He relinquished his hold on her arm. The next words he said rocked her world even more than the last.

"Her attacker was the Uchiha bastard."

Ino suddenly was no longer just upset. Now… she was absolutely livid!

"That sorry motherfucker!" Ino balled her fists at her side. "I'll kill that worthless piece of shit."

"Ino calm down." Naruto waved his hands trying to get her attention and calm her down. "While I agree that the teme needs his balls ripped off, right now your focus needs to be Sakura. While I feel like I should stay to help her, right now she needs a woman to stay with her tonight, not a man. Once she starts coming around, she isn't going to want anything to do with a man being anywhere near her."

Naruto walked over to Sakura and kneeled down by the couch, and ran his fingers through her hair, soothing her.

"Sakura, Ino is here and she is going to tend to you and make sure you get better. I think it would be best if I left so that she can take care of you."

He went to stand and leave when he felt a hand reach out for his and grip it tight.

"Please don't leave me. It's not safe."

"It's going to be ok Sakura, but I should leave for tonight." She still had a firm grip on his hand. He sighed, "Look, if it makes you feel safer, I'll stay across the street at the station tonight, I have to work tomorrow anyway. This way if you really need me, I'll be just across the street."

She nodded and let her hand go limp, releasing her hold on him.

Ino walked him out of the apartment.

"Naruto?"

He turned back to the platinum blonde standing in the doorway. Even with the tears still fresh on her face, she was smiling at him. She walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek. Ino backed into the door to the apartment, a blush on her cheeks.

"Thank you so much for taking care of her. You are a great guy Naruto, I can tell she likes you a lot."

Naruto just stood there with a dumb look on his face and listened as she continued.

"I can tell you like her too. Just do me a favor."

Naruto gave her a funny look, confusion written on his face as he waited for her request.

"Be careful with her. I don't think I need to impress upon you how important a friend she is to me."

Naruto only nodded and turned, knowing that was all she had to say.

Once Naruto was out of sight, Ino closed the door to Sakura's apartment and locked it. Tomorrow was going to be rough.

Something bothered her about Naruto though. She saw the dried blood on his face and hands, but there were no cuts or bruises. The blood patterns suggested they came from injuries he should have had, especially if the fight was as bad as he said it was…

'_Why didn't he have any injuries though? Something is missing from his story that he didn't tell me about.'_

As she went to Sakura to help her to the bathroom she could only repeat the same question in her mind.

'_Naruto, who are you?'_


	8. Chapter 8: Friends and Enemies

The next morning Sakura found herself curled up on her couch. She looked up to see Ino sleeping in a chair just next to her. She was glad to have a friend near. She really didn't want to be alone. Honestly she didn't think she would ever feel safe while alone ever again. She grabbed the blanket she had slept with and placed over Ino, then made her way to the shower.

The hot steam of the shower did little to soothe her nerves. She almost decided against the shower, knowing she would be washing away any chance of implicating Sasuke, but something he said last night made her feel like it would be a useless pursuit no matter how much evidence she may have.

*Flashback*

_Sakura just lied there on her back, completely powerless to stop her attacker. In between thrusts, Sasuke leaned down to her ear._

"_Don't even think about going to the cops, bitch! Remember, I OWN the cops."_

_He grunted as he continued his ministrations, breathing heavily in her ear and against her neck._

"_I own this whole city, the judges, lawyers, all of them!"_

_His breathing became more erratic as he reached his peak and filled her with his tainted seed._

"_And now, I own you."_

*End Flashback*

She stepped into the hot water and let the warmth envelope her. The fresh streams of hot water hid the already falling tears on her cheeks.

It had been a few weeks since that night in the parking garage of the hospital. Naruto hadn't been able to take his mind off the things that happened to Sakura, and the strange presence that made it's self quite known that night as well. He was still baffled by the presence of another within his mind. Where had it come from? What was it so concerned for his safety? And why was it only just making its presence known to him?

There were so many questions and simply no answers to go with them.

Naruto peered out the window of his Fire Station and looked across the street to Ryan Park. He scanned the area for a head of pink hair, but couldn't find it. This was his routine for the last several shifts. He wanted to talk to Sakura, if nothing else than to reassure her that he was there and always ready to help her. But he knew that she would not just come waltzing in asking for her 'knight in shining armor' to sweep her off her feet and save the day. She was in a very dark and scary place right now. He knew the best thing that he could do to help her is to just give her space and time to try and recover her life.

He noticed a yellow Volkswagen Beetle pull up alongside the apartment complex and park. A familiar head of platinum blonde hair appeared out of the car and walked inside the building. Ino he presumed. Lost in his thoughts, Naruto almost didn't hear the dispatch for a medical assist just downtown on Dauphin St. Naruto ran to the pole hole and slid down the 30ft length of brass to the engine bay downstairs and got on the truck.

Sakura was sitting at her window letting the warmth of the summer sun shine on her face. She watched as a fire truck pulled out of one of the bays from the fire station across the street. Her mind went to Naruto and that night when everything happened. She had been having strange dreams; dreams of Sasuke having strange glowing eyes and Naruto's entire body glowing orange. She knew none of these images in her dreams had anything to do with reality, but she just simply couldn't shake off how real it seemed to her. She was kind of sad that Naruto had not come to check on her over the last few weeks, but Ino had reassured her that he was afraid that his presence might make things worse till she was able to go out and face the world again. She smiled as she watched the fire truck make its way downtown.

"Thinking about your 'Hero' again are we? You know, you could ask the man out instead of watching him from your apartment window. At least it would get you out of this damn box you call home." Ino smirked at the pinkette's obvious attraction to the mysterious enigma known as Naruto. She was thoroughly convinced that Sakura had it bad for the man.

Sakura turned and looked out the window again, smiling. She had always been the traditional girl, waiting for the guy to make the first move, but Naruto seemed like the kind of guy who would just simply take too long or simply not make a move at all. Thinking of the blonde brought up images of her dreams again. She turned to Ino with a look of slight confusion on her face.

"Hey Ino, can I tell you something without you laughing at me?"

Ino had listened half-heartedly at first to Sakura's ramblings of her unusual dreams regarding the night in the parking garage and the super-human fight between Sasuke and Naruto. However, the more she listened, the more it actually started to make sense. There was no way a normal person could have been involved in such an epic fight and come out unscathed. She remembered seeing Naruto's face that night as he left the apartment… The dried blood and places that obviously should have been injured, that just simply weren't. Ino decided that subterfuge and investigation was getting her nowhere with discovering Naruto's obvious secret he was carrying. She decided it was time to stop sitting on her hands and to take a more direct approach to the matter.

Sasuke was walking through the family wing of his estate. He hadn't been here since he was a little boy. Many things were still untouched, since no one was allowed to come back here after his brother went insane and killed both of his parents. Sasuke could still remember the night that it had happened as if it were only yesterday.

*Flashback*

_Sasuke was returning from school for the weekend. It was his birthday and he was excited about what his parents got him this time. He was especially excited to see his older brother Itachi. This week's curriculum at the prep school was about the Police Force. Sasuke's father and Itachi were both members of the Police Force in the city. Sasuke was eager to tell them everything he had learned and how he was going to be a Police Officer just like the rest of the family. As the limo pulled up to the Uchiha estate, Sasuke noticed that his mother and father were not out front waiting on him like they usually did when he came home for a weekend. Sasuke just shrugged it off, figuring they were in side and busy. The Driver grabbed Sasuke's bag and lead him into the house. Sasuke could not have been prepared for the sight that would greet him as he walked inside._

_In the center of the main entrance were the bodies of his mother and father. They were heaped together in a bloody tangled mess._

"_Father? Mother!" _

_Sasuke began to panic as he shook his father's shoulder, trying desperately to wake him. This had to be a bad dream right? A joke for his birthday? The sound of a thud behind him brought him to his senses again. He turned in time to see the now headless body of the driver slumped against the door frame, his bags still firmly clutched in his hand. Sasuke was now completely panic stricken. Reality came crashing down on him as he realized his family was in fact dead, and that the killer was still here, but where was Itachi. Itachi could save him._

_Sasuke screamed out for his brother, running up the stairs and down the hallway of the family wing._

"_Itachi, bother, where are you? HELP! Someone has killed mother and father. Sasuke heard steps behind him and ran even harder. He turned a corner and dived into a closet, pulling it closed behind him. He sat there as the footsteps got closer. Sasuke held his breath and sat perfectly still, doing anything he could to make absolutely no noise. The footsteps were now just outside the door. Sasuke saw a pair of boots stop outside his door. Tears leaked out of his eyes as he thought that he was about to die too. The knob jiggled as the attacker turned it. Sasuke pressed himself to the back of the closet, trying to get as far away as possible. The door swung open quickly and light poured in around the figure standing in the doorway. Sasuke was already terrified, but what really chilled his blood, were the two glowing eyes that were looking down at him. Blood red eyes with commas glared at him from behind the shadowy face._

"_Sasuke."_

_Sasuke's eyes widened at the voice he recognized so well._

"_Itachi? Itachi, it's you!"_

_Sasuke ran out of the closet and clutched his brother's thigh in a tight embrace._

"_Brother, someone has killed mother and father. The killer got the driver too and he was going to get me if you hadn't showed up."_

_Sasuke felt his brother place a hand on his shoulder._

"_Yes little brother, I know he is still here."_

_With that Itachi grabbed a handful of Sasuke's shirt and slung him down the hallway. Sasuke looked up at Itachi, confusion clearly written on his face._

"_Brother, why did you do that? What's wrong with you? That hurt!"_

_Itachi closed his eyes. When he opened them again they changed. The commas that were once there had come together to form a new pattern in Itachi's eyes._

"_I have discovered something Sasuke. Our family is cursed. Cursed to hunger and fight for power; destined to consume ourselves and everyone around us in that quest for power. You see, it was me that killed mother and father."_

_Sasuke's eyes widened at the admission._

"_Why brother? They loved you. They were our PARENTS!"_

_Itachi smirked at his brother._

"_That is precisely why I killed them. To hurt someone that loved you, that is the key to unlocking this power that has been lying dormant in our blood. I killed them to gain this power."_

_Itachi was quiet, allowing Sasuke to digest that information before he spoke again._

"_But there is an even greater power beyond this. You will know it too. That is why I will let you live. Live a pitiful existence. Hate me with every fiber of your being and return to me when you are powerful enough to defeat me. Then I will show you the power that I speak of. Come for me when you are ready Sasuke. Come for me and get your revenge… if you can that is."_

_Itachi turned and walked out, leaving a broken, confused little boy in his wake._

*End Flashback*

Sasuke already accomplished the first step. Hurting someone that loved and cared for him was his first step to gaining the power he needed to get revenge on his brother. Sakura was just a stepping stone; a tool to be used to further his goals. He didn't care that she was innocent. The only thing that mattered was his ambition and his goal and he was going to achieve it no matter the cost.

"Itachi," he said to no one in particular, "I will find you and I will kill you. Nothing will stop me from my ambition."

He then remembered the blonde man he fought in the garage. He felt a strange connection to this man. Somehow he just _knew_ that this guy was going to be a problem for him in the future.

'_How was he so powerful though? I must find out more about him'_

If there was someone as powerful as he was, he needed to be prepared. He decided it was time to do some investigating.


	9. Chapter 9: Origins

Well guys, I have had a few sporadic moments of creativity, so I have been able to put out a few chapters to keep you regular readers interested in my story. Hopefully, it hasn't lost its luster for you yet and you still find it interesting enough to keep reading it as I update. Again, I really appreciate the reviews, but if any of you have ideas, please don't hesitate to offer them up. If I think they will fit well into the story, I'll be glad to use them and I will be sure to give you the due credit for the idea. I like writing stories tailored to my readers while still maintaining my own creative integrity, so 'hook me up' and I'll try to put out quality reading material for all you NaruxSaku fans out there. Anyhow, enough of my rambling, I'm sure you are more interested in what comes after the line break. :D

It had been another long day at the fire station and Naruto was feeling the strain of the day's events. The day started with a car fire in the tunnel Downtown, followed by two separate residential fires in the historic district of the city. Naruto mopped his brow of sweat and soot as he took a break from his overhaul of this latest house fire. This fire was a mystery to him. The fire inspector was talking with the Fire Chief about the details, so Naruto made sure to listen close for any new information. The conversation wasn't long, but what he was able to get out of it was that it seems the arsonist setting these fires was getting smarter and was refining his technique. The burn patterns were completely uncharacteristic of normal fire behavior. Naruto looked at the random charring around the house. It was almost like someone set multiple fires in the same house, putting each one out before the next was started. There were indications that the fire burned really hot, suggesting that an accelerant was used, but the odor analyzer didn't detect even the slightest hint of an accelerant. The fire inspector was baffled by this as were the rest of the responding fire personnel.

"Naruto, you gunna' stand around or are you actually gunna' do some work?" Kakashi yelled from outside.

Naruto had the decency to look abashed and got back to pulling down drywall, looking for possible hot-spots.

Back at the station, Naruto decided to take a shower to wash the soot off his body and to get the all too familiar 'smoked sausage' smell that accompanies fighting fire, out of his hair. It was five o'clock in the evening and dinner at the station would be ready soon. As the hot water rolled off his body, he closed his eyes to relax. When he opened them again he saw nothing but blackness. He blinked several times, but to no avail. He started to stumble around, water sloshed around his ankles reminding him he was in the shower. He started to feel uneasy on his feet, not being able to see anything and reached out to put a hand on the wall to steady himself. Hand met open air and he began to stumble forward. He fell face first into the water then pushed himself up onto his knees. Naruto squinted and rubbed his eyes trying anything he could think of to get his vision to clear. Finally after nothing working, he simply called out for help.

"Captain Kakashi? Kiba? Anyone? Someone help! I can't see!"

Naruto crawled through the water, trying to feel for a wall. Where the hell _was_ the wall? His hand finally found something solid and he pushed himself up against it, leaning against it to keep from falling back down again. More cries for help brought only silence. Naruto was starting to freak out. He was pretty convinced now that he was no longer in the shower at the fire station, but the bigger question was, where the hell was he? He decided to follow the hard wall like structure he was tracing with his hand. He walked through the ankle deep water for what seemed like hours until the wall just stopped. Just when Naruto was about to turn around in the other direction, he caught a glimmer of light out of the corner of his eye. He turned left where the 'wall' ended and started walking toward the soft glow.

The further he walked, the greater the illumination grew until he could make out his surroundings. After looking around he noticed that he had in fact been traveling down a long hallway. Higher up the walls of this hallway were dingy, moss-covered and rusted pipes lining each side. These pipes seemed to come together into larger pipes, which in turn, came together into even larger pipes which all came together to one large pipe that marked the end of the hallway. Beyond the end of that hallway was a large wide open room of some kind.

As Naruto stepped into the room he noticed that the ankle deep water got a bit deeper and came up to his knees. He looked around and noticed that there were other hallways that came from this room and went other places which Naruto most certainly didn't know. His attention then focused on something in the center of the room. In the center of the room, surrounded by four lit torches, was a platform. By this time Naruto had already given up on trying to figure out where he was, and only focused on learning as much as he could about 'where' he was at now. He edged closer to the platform, keeping his eyes up, because it wasn't the platform that held his attention, but the glowing red mass of fluid that was seemingly hovering over it.

Naruto had no idea what it was, and he could feel that the red mass practically hummed with energy, but the fear of the unknown did not stop him from reaching out to it, almost as if he were being drawn to it.

A whisper in the back of his mind startled him and he pulled his hand back as if he had been burned.

"**Don't be afraid my child."** The whisper said, **"I will not harm you. I am as much a part of you as you are a part of me."**

'_Ok. It's official. I have finally lost my mind.' _ Mused Naruto.

Naruto slapped himself across the face a few times, then he pinched his arms and legs, anything to try and 'wake' himself from what obviously had to be a very realistic daydream.

'_I must have inhaled too much smoke at that fire' he thought._

He shrugged his shoulders at the absurdity of a 'red blob' talking to him and decided to just go with it. He might as well get some answers.

"Yo, uh, red blobby thing…" He scratched his head trying to think of just how exactly he was to go about talking to this thing… "Umm… Where exactly am I?"

Silence was his answer.

"Hey, uh, look… I don't know what is going on, or why I can't wake from this dream, but I really gotta go. I'm still on shift at the fire station and-"

"**What you think you need to do is irrelevant!"** Boomed a voice from everywhere in the room at once.

Naruto covered his ears at the unexpected voice.

"Damnit that was loud. I think my ears are bleeding."

Naruto wiggled a finger in his ear in an attempt to quell the ringing that now replaced the silence he had gotten used to.

"**My apologies young one, you have been ignoring me for quite some time until only recently. My intentions were only to gain your attention."** Again the voice seemed to come from everywhere in the room at once.

"Uh... it's Ok, I guess." Naruto looked around the room trying to find a person belonging to the voice, but saw no one. He shrugged his shoulders, giving up on that idea. "So, where am I?"

"**It amuses me that you don't recognize your own mind young one, but then again, you don't use it that often, so your lack of familiarity is not surprising."**

"My mind?"

"**You catch on quick."** The voice deadpanned.

"Hey, it's not every day you are unceremoniously yanked from a peaceful shower into your own mind. I'm still not thoroughly convinced I'm not dreaming right now."

It was quiet again. Naruto was about to ask another question when the red mass above the podium started to shift. It wobbled and boiled, as if something inside were trying to poke through the side, trying to get out. Slowly it began to take shape. Gradually, the features sharpened, taking on animalistic characteristics. The more Naruto looked at the mass, the more he thought it looked familiar to him. As it finished it's writhing and reshaping Naruto took a step back to take in the image in front of him.

There, standing on the podium, in the center of his 'mind', was a large, red fox. This was already new on his 'weird shit that happens to me' list, but to make matters even more confusing was the fact that the fox had not one, but nine tails.

"Umm, so I gather that you are a fox, but why the hell do you have nine tails? Foxes only have one tail… like every other normal animal that is born with a tail."

The fox bared its teeth in what could possibly pass for a grin.

"**That is because I am no normal fox."** The fox stated.

"Thanks Captain Obvious, I gathered that much already. Maybe you want to explain to me why I have a red-blobby-thing-fox living in my head?" Naruto, completely convinced now that he was dreaming, swore to himself that once he woke up he would never eat crawfish with chocolate milk ever again.

"**How about I start from the beginning?"** The fox mused.

The fox gestured toward the far wall of the room, where a large portion of it shimmered and distort into an image. As Naruto watched the image became clearer as the waving slowed to a stop. In the image, rolling green hills of grass and lush forests went on for miles. Trees swayed in the breeze. Naruto closed his eyes as he enjoyed the cool feel of the fresh air against his skin. When he opened his eyes again, he was high above the trees, soaring through the sky. Off in the distance he saw a small village.

Naruto felt a presence tug on him, halting his progress toward that peaceful village. He turned and saw the fox with nine tails hovering just behind him.

"**Do you know what this place is?"** asked the fox.

"No. I know I have never seen this place before, but somehow… I feel connected to it. Like how I would feel coming home from a long journey." He paused and rubbed his chin. "Kinda like I belong here."

The fox nodded at his reply. **"This place is connected to you as I am connected to you. This place existed quite a long time ago, though it no longer exists in this time."**

Naruto could only squint his eyes, not really understanding what the fox was trying to get at.

"**This village is the birthplace of your lineage, as well as the reason you and I are two parts of the same whole." **The fox gestured with one of his tails and the image was replaced with an image of war. There was fighting everywhere. Many warriors were locked in hand-to-hand combat; some were throwing knives and other weapons while there were others that looked as though they were tending wounded.

"I don't understand. What does this all have to do with me?" Naruto gave the fox a quizzical look.

"**Watch and understand young one."** The fox gestured again with one of his tails and the scene changed again. This time, two figures were standing opposite of each other. One was a raven haired man dressed in a white kimono and wielding a very long sword. The feature that stood out the most to Naruto was the man's eyes.

Naruto recognized them almost immediately. He had seen those very same eyes that night in the parking garage.

The fox confirmed Naruto's unspoken words. **"Yes, those are the cursed eyes of the Uchiha. The eyes that could control and manipulate even the strongest of the tailed beasts, me, the Kyuubi no Kitsune."**

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Uhh… what's a Keeyoubee or whatever?"

"**Kyuubi, or nine tails. There were nine of us out of the tailed beasts, our power determined by the number of tails we had. The more tails we had, the more powerful we were. I was the strongest. At the time I was nothing more than a malevolent mass of hatred, but my jinchuuriki-" ** he noticed Naruto had the same look of confusion again. **"- but my 'host' eventually changed that. He had a strong spirit, one that would not be broken, even by the strongest force in the world."**

Naruto just nodded his head, figuring that none of this would even really matter, since he was dreaming after all.

Kyuubi sighed.

"**For now young one, just know that I am called Kyuubi. I am part of you, and you are a direct descendant of the other man in this image." ** Kyuubi pointed to the other man in the scene on the wall. The man had bright blue eyes and flowing blonde hair.

"Wow, that guy looks just like me."

"**Essentially, you are him reborn. But that is another story for another time. Perhaps I have said too much already. I can tell this is quite a bit of information to take in, and you probably think you are just dreaming anyway. You humans are always quick to discount that which you don't understand. My time is about up, I shall leave you with a parting gift." **Kyuubi's tails began to glow bright red. Without warning, all nine tails shot out and embedded into Naruto's stomach. Inky black marking began to appear on his abdomen and the tails continued their ministrations. Naruto grunted in pain as the tails felt like hot coals being raked across his stomach. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the fox withdrew his tails. "**The Gate is finished. My work is done. For now, rest; we shall meet again soon. Farewell Naruto."**

"-aruto…"

"Na-to"

"Naruto wake up!"

Naruto jolted awake and his eyes opened to Kakashi standing over him in the shower shaking him.

After Naruto dried and finished dressing he stepped out of the bathroom. He took a few steps and quickly became dizzy and light headed.

'_Why am I so tired. I haven't done that much today… and what was up with that weird day-dream. It seemed to go on forever.'_

Suddenly there was a burning pain in his stomach. It got hotter and hotter until he couldn't stand it anymore. He grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted it away from his stomach and took a long hard look.

"No fucking way…"


	10. Chapter 10: Inner Strength

Sakura hummed to herself as she walked through the fruit market. She picked up a grapefruit and rolled it against her palm, ensuring it was firm but ripe at the same time. Satisfied with her choice, she plopped it into a bag and twisted the end into a knot, then tossed the bag into her cart. She continued the process on each piece of fruit she chose until the front of her cart was full. Once finished with her choices, she moved to the front counter to make her purchases. However, Sakura was not here because she was in need of groceries for her home. She was here for a totally unrelated reason. This place was just a distraction from something that had been bothering her all day. It had been a long day at the hospital. Her mind was focused on the one particular event that was the source of her worry.

*Flashback*

_Sakura walked into exam room 3. The chart outside contained information regarding the patient's ailment; a possible break in the left forearm, in the distal Ulna. It was a small break, requiring nothing more than a cast and time to heal. Her patient was a 6 year old little boy with brown hair and big brown eyes. His cheeks were stained with tears from his obvious discomfort. Sakura looked to her file for his name. Thomas._

"_Hello Thomas, my name is Dr. Haruno, but you can call me Sakura if you like." _

_She gave the boy a big smile that sent the corners of her mouth almost all the way to her emerald green eyes. The boy only nodded in reply._

_The boy's mother stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him._

"_My son was climbing a tree with some of the other neighborhood boys. It seems they were rough-housing IN the tree and Tommy fell out. I am almost certain his arm is broken. Sakura nodded._

"_I am going to do a few movement checks and then I will take an x-ray of his arm. He will likely have to wear a cast, but if there is a break, it's probably not bad enough to need being reset."_

_The mother visibly relaxed at the information. The mother then walked toward the door out of the room._

"_I need to use your restroom. Is it ok to leave him here while I go? It will be quick I promise."_

_Sakura nodded to the boy's mother._

"_Sure that's fine. We will be right here when you get back."_

_With that, the mother left and Sakura turned her attention to her patient. She took the boy's arm into her hands._

"_Ok now I just need you to try and do a few things for me and then we can make your arm all better." She smiled at the boy to put him at ease._

"_First I need you to try and turn your arm from side to side."_

_The boy went to move his arm, but immediately cradled it with his other arm and shook his head._

"_It's ok Thomas; I know it's not very comfortable." She smiled reassuringly at the young boy. "Ok one more thing and we will be finished with the stuff that hurts, ok?"_

_The boy nodded._

"_Ok, very slowly I want you to wave your hand up and down like you are waving goodbye. Be sure to only move at your wrist."_

_The boy did as was instructed and immediately winced in pain. His eyes started to tear up and little sniffles could be heard._

_Sakura felt bad for him. She had broken her arm more than once being clumsy as a child, so she could empathize with the boy in front of her. She took his arm in her hand and wished she could make his arm better and take his pain away._

"_It will be ok; I'll make your arm all better." She cooed to the youngster. _

_Almost immediately, her hands became very warm… unusually warm to be more specific. It was then that Sakura felt something, what, she didn't know, but it was as if something or someone was telling her not to let go. Her hands began to give off a warm green glow. Inside her mind's eye she could almost see the bone in the boy's arm knitting together at an impossible rate. Her eyes went wide and met the equally wide eyes of Thomas. After a few minutes, the glow died down and disappeared completely. Sakura was dumbfounded at what she had just witnessed. Where there was once a heavy bruise on the boy's arm where the break would have been, was now almost an indiscernible light bruise on his forearm. Sakura released the boy's arm and he pulled it back reflexively. He turned his arm back and forth. Then he looked up at Sakura and gave her the biggest toothy grin he could muster._

"_It doesn't hurt anymore! You really did make it all better!"_

_Sakura, still at a loss for words, looked at the boy with a blank stare. Her eyes went back to the small bruise on his arm._

'_Did I really just do that?' she thought._

_Sakura's mind raced. What did this mean? What was going on with her? She looked back at Thomas. As real as the occurrence was to her, she just couldn't believe it._

"_Let's go to x-ray and take a picture of your arm. I need to see something."_

*End Flashback*

The events of the day had been on her mind since her shift ended at the hospital. What was happening to her?

She collected her bagged purchases and walked out of the market. As she made her way home, Sakura started to feel uneasy. She would feel like this from time to time as a result of 'the night.' This time, however, she felt more uneasy than was usual. She turned and glanced behind her to see only one person walking behind her. She continued toward her apartment, but with a little more vigor in her step. After a few blocks she began to feel uneasy again. This time she was afraid to look behind her, but she turned and glanced behind once again to see the same person following behind her. Looking closer she noticed that the man was not looking anywhere but directly at her. He noticed that she noticed him and he quickened his pace. Sakura panicked and broke into a dead run. The man began to run after her.

Sakura was frantic. She was running into people on the sidewalk, running into newspaper add boxes. It seemed the closer the man got to her, the more obstacles she ran into. Finally her apartment was within eyesight. There were only a few more blocks to go. Just as she thought she was home free, a group of people poured out of a local coffee shop like a thickly massed herd of cattle. With traffic in the street and the group of people too clustered to get through, she darted down an alleyway. This of course, she realized too late, was a big mistake. There was a large pile of debris and a privacy fence cutting of passage through the alleyway. It looked like some repairs were being made to the building sharing this alleyway. Local construction was going to be her ultimate destruction.

Sakura turned to run back out of the alleyway only to be met by her attacker. The man was easily three times her size. The man flashed a grin and reached into his pocket, pulling out a knife. Flashback images of her night in the parking garage came back full force and she completely lost all of her willpower. She collapsed on her knees in a heap and began to sob.

"Yes, I hear that prey instinctively know when to give up, sensing that a situation is hopeless." The man licked his lips and leaped the last few steps, pressing his knife to Sakura's throat. If Sakura felt the knife press against her flesh, she gave no indication of it. She had already given up the moment she realized she was trapped. She was vaguely aware of the man yanking her purse from her. She was only slightly aware that he was no longer interested in her purse and that he was now pulling at her clothes. Then, when she thought that everything was over for her, she heard a voice.

'_**Sakura…'**_

'_**Sakura!'**_

The voice grew louder.

'_**Sakura damnit, if you don't listen to me right now I am going to KICK YOUR ASS!'**_

Now that got Sakura's attention.

Everything vanished before her eyes and she found herself standing in a pitch black room. The blackness of the room startled her. She could discern no concept of a floor, ceiling, or walls. Only black space, yet she seemed to be 'standing' on some kind of 'floor.' However, as strange as all this was, nothing was more strange to her than to be standing face-to-face, with… herself.

"Who are you? You look just like me."

'_**I am you stupid. That's why I look like you. For someone with such a large forehead, you sure seem to have a lack of brain behind it.'**_

"What the hell? My forehead isn't that big! You look like me, but you don't talk like me." Sakura gestured all around her. "What exactly is all of this?"

'_**We are inside your mind to answer your second question.'**_ The Sakura clone grinned. _**'And to answer your first question, I am you… but more importantly, I am not just you. I am all of the feelings you keep to yourself, I am all of the things you want to say, but don't. In short, I am the more aggressive side of your personality. I am the take-charge-kick-ass-and-take-names side of you that you don't have to courage to be normally.'**_

Sakura gave her a dumb look.

The Sakura copy sighed in frustration.

'_**Look, I am your inner-self, but right now, that is not what's important. Right now, you are about to be raped again and probably killed, only this time your knight-in-shining-armor isn't here to rescue you. It looks like I am going to have to show you what to do.'**_

With that, Inner Sakura reared back and punched Sakura right in the face. Sakura jolted awake and violently tumbled back into reality. The man was fidgeting with the buckle on his pants, trying to get them undone. This time however, Sakura no longer felt afraid or weak. She felt something surge through her, and then a whisper in the back of her mind.

'_**Hit him Sakura. Make him regret ever laying a hand on you.'**_

Sakura nodded and a fire burned in her eyes. Faster than lightning could ever hope to strike, Sakura brought her hand up and gripped her attackers hand in a painfully tight grip. She then pushed his hand and weapon away from her throat, almost effortlessly. The man's eyes bugged out of his face.

"What the fuck is going-"was all he could say before Sakura's right hook smashed into his head. The impact sounded like a gunshot and the man 'sailed' literally, through the air into the side of a dumpster on the other side of the alleyway. Sakura gaped and looked at her hand. The doctor in her knew that her hand would HAVE to be broken after an impact like that. She looked at her hand, quickly opening and closing it. It wasn't even the slightest bit sore or hurt. She walked over to her assailant. He was slumped against the dumpster, unconscious. To a by-passer he would have looked like a drunken bum sleeping it off, but to someone with Sakura's medical know-how, the man had a fractured jaw, and the odd angle that his shoulders slumped suggested that one or both of his shoulders were dislocated. Quickly surveying her conquest, the high of the empowerment wore off and she realized for the first time, just what happened. She quickly turned and ran out of the alleyway, not bothering to look back. She ran full sprint all the way back to her apartment. Once inside she locked the door. She turned, and slumped to the floor, her back sliding against the door as she descended. Once there, she cupped her face in her hands and wept.


	11. Chapter 11: Connections

Naruto watched as the Samurai and ninja from several nations all collided on the battlefield. It was awe-inspiring and heart-wrenching at the same time. The sheer number of people fighting off the overwhelming number of creatures that seemed to flow onto the battlefield like a tide was impressive, but so many people were sacrificing their lives. How could they so easily throw their lives away for him? He clenched his fist, digging his nails into his own flesh until he drew blood from his palms. The Hokage made him promise not to join the battle. This battle was about him, over him and for him. He watched as many of his childhood friends were carried in on litters, either mortally wounded or already on the verge of death. His eyes misted with tears he swore he would not shed till this was all over. An ANBU landed next to him, handed him a scroll, and then disappeared back into the fray. The scroll was crumpled, tattered at the edges and stained with blood, old and fresh. He already knew what this was. Fresh tears began to stream down his face as he crumpled the scroll in his bloody palm. He looked out at the battlefield again before he wiped his eyes, broke the seal on the scroll and began reading.

_My best Friend: Naruto_

_ If you are reading this, and I am not standing with you, then I have surely fallen in battle. I do not regret asking for a front-line assignment. This war is about protecting you and I would gladly give my life to do that. I have lived my life with many regrets. I regret not being strong enough to walk with you through life. I regret that I couldn't help you convince Sasuke to come home. I regret treating you so bad when we were younger. But mostly I regret not taking our relationship as friends to the next level. But if I know you at all, you don't want to hear about my regrets, so I will tell you what I do not regret._

_ I do NOT regret being put on team 7. I do NOT regret becoming your friend. Most importantly, I WILL NOT regret dying for you. I can do this because of another regret I do not have. I do NOT regret ever falling in love with you. Yes Naruto-kun, I said it. I love you. More than you will ever know. It was my wish to be by your side after all of this was over, but this is a shinobi life and things don't always go as we planned them. I do know that I am at peace now, and I am glad that I worked on my patience as we grew up. Because I know you aren't going to die for a long, long time. So that means I am just going to have to sit and wait until you get here. Don't get in a rush to join me. I'll be patient and wait for you. Until I see you again, live life to its fullest, and be sure to always stick to your nindo._

_ Loving you into eternity,_

_ Sakura-chan._

Naruto carefully rolled up the scroll and tucked it into a pocket inside his jacket. Calmness spread throughout him as he now knew what he had to do. He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his father's trademark special kunai and spun it around his finger before stopping it in his palm. He looked back to the command tent. Kakashi, Tsunade and Shizune were all there speaking with the other kages and various tacticians. Tsunade looked up and their eyes locked. Kakashi and Shizune noticed their Hokage's attention had been diverted and looked up as well to see what had pulled her attention. They all looked at Naruto. He looked back at each of them in turn and gave the biggest grin he could muster. A tear rolled down Tsunade's cheek as she knew what he was about to do. She only hoped that he wouldn't get himself killed. She knew he wouldn't obey her order to stay uninvolved for long. She nodded an unspoken farewell. Naruto turned and threw the kunai in the air.

"Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Thousands of three pronged kunai clouded the sky. Naruto closed his eyes.

It was morning. Naruto got up and started getting dressed for another shift at the fire station. He was groggy. He was tired and his head pounded as if he had gotten into a brawl with a few thousand drunks downtown. In short… He felt like a bag of smashed assholes. This had been his routine for the last few days since the Kyuubi pulled him into his own mindscape. There was another issue he was still trying to contend with in aside his recurring dream. Naruto lifted his shirt to inspect the new tattoo on his stomach. Kyuubi called it a 'Gate.' It was supposed to be like a conduit to Naruto's new inner strength and power. Kyuubi said that he had been containing the power deep within his ancestor's bloodline, waiting for a time when he sensed it was needed. Naruto grabbed the last of his things and slid down the pole from the third floor down to the second. Kakashi was already getting breakfast ready for the rest of the crew at the station. Kakashi saw Naruto enter the kitchen and waved.

"Good morning Naruto, did you sleep well?"

Naruto knew there was more to the question than just the question itself. Naruto thought back to the dreams and memories that were not his own. He thought about the Kakashi he knew from another life in another time. He found it almost humorous how similar this Kakashi and the other Kakashi were. Kakashi, though he pretended to not know what was going on around him, was very sharp and didn't miss anything. Naruto was almost one hundred percent positive that Kakashi knew about the mark on his stomach and the 'presence' that has been residing inside of him. But Kakashi was also a very good friend and Naruto knew that he wouldn't press him for information. Kakashi would just wait until Naruto felt comfortable enough to talk to him about whatever was on his mind.

Naruto smiled at his longtime friend and father figure.

"Yeah Captain, I slept ok. Breakfast sure smells good!" he said with a grin.

Sakura stepped out of her apartment complex into the heat of summer. It was late afternoon though and the sun would be setting soon. She decided that she needed to get out of her stuffy apartment and get some fresh air for once. She walked across the street to the park. Once she found a suitable bench that was unoccupied, she took a seat and let the warm summer blow across her skin. The breeze blew a few errant strands of pink hair into her face. Reflexively, she tucked the unruly locks behind her ear. Her mind wandered to her encounter with the man in the alleyway a few weeks ago. She remembered the feeling of her fist colliding with his jaw and the sickening crunch she heard when it crumbled under the force of it. Even though it was her that had hit the man, the whole situation had a dream-like feel to it, almost as if she were a spectator to her own actions than the aggressor. She looked down to her hand, opening and closing it. The strength she felt then wasn't present right now, but she could still feel it, hidden, almost as if it were just waiting behind a veil, ready to be released when it was needed. Then there were the occurrences at the hospital.

*Flashback*

She had been filling in for one of the other doctors the last couple of weeks. This doctor was in charge of geriatrics and coma patients. Sakura's curious nature led her to try and see if she could heal some of these patients like she had the boy's broken arm. It started with a patient who had been admitted from the E.R. The patient had a stroke, but had not regained consciousness. The patient had been in the coma ward for almost two months and had displayed no signs of waking up. At first she just stared at the old man. He seemed so frail, yet he wasn't so old that his life should be cut short due to some freak occurrence. She looked out the window on the door to see if anyone was watching, then quickly pulled the curtain closed to the room. She didn't want anyone seeing her. It would be really hard to explain glowing green hands to your co-workers.

At first, she wasn't sure what to do or even how to start it. She waved her hands over the body as if she were smoothing out a blanket.

"Healing Hands!" she said.

Nothing happened.

'_Of course nothing happened idiot; what is this, a comic book story where you have to shout something ridiculous to activate a super power?'_

Sakura mentally slapped herself at her silly actions. She decided to try another approach. This time she placed her hands on either side of the old man's face. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate. She focused on her knowledge of human anatomy; the make-up of the skull, brain, nervous system all of it. She started to see an image. She saw a brain, but more specifically she saw, blood vessels. She could clearly see blood pumping through them as if she were looking at it with her own eyes. She looked closer and noticed a dark spot on the lower rear section of the brain. This section was not getting blood flow. The section was so small Sakura had almost missed it.

'_How had this escaped a CT scan?'_ she wondered.

She concentrated on the spot, enlarging her field of vision until she could see the blood vessels that were supposed to be providing the much needed oxygen rich blood to the brain cells in this area. Sakura noticed that just above a branch in the artery, there was a dark discoloration.

'_A blood clot!'_

Sakura's eyes shot open, her hands had the same warm sensation she had felt when she healed the boy's arm. She closed her eyes again and pictured herself removing the clot. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she focused hard on the clot. In her mind she removed the clot and focused the green energy on the dark portion of the old man's brain.

When she opened her eyes she was greeted with an unexpected sight. The old man also had his eyes open. He was squinting and brought his hand up to shield his eyes from the bright light of the hospital room. Sakura gasped and immediately ran to turn off the light in the room. Just as fast, she ran to the wall and pressed the alert switch for the nurses' station. Within minutes the room was filled with nurses hovering over various medical devices. Sakura stepped back and out of the way. She couldn't believe it. She had brought that man out of a coma, and not by any conventional means known to man. She realized her hand was still clenched shut. She opened her hand to reveal a tiny spec in the center of her palm. She brought it closer to her face. It was the blood clot from the man's brain. She closed her fist tight over it and walked out of the room, her mind a flurry of questions.

*End Flashback*

The sun had set while Sakura was lost in her thoughts.

'_How long have I been sitting here?'_

She stood and stretched her limbs. She turned to head back upstairs to her apartment when she caught a head of blonde hair walking by on the other side of the park.

"Naruto?" she called out.

Sasuke had been poring over any information he could find on Naruto. So far all he could find was some basic information on his home address and an article about his parents who apparently died in a car accident. He didn't like it one bit. He didn't like having an opponent that was a complete and total mystery. He decided that it would just be easier to eliminate him than trying to find information on him. Anyone who could stand on equal ground with him was a threat and the Uchiha only dealt with threats in one manner… by eliminating them from the equation entirely.

"Here is ten thousand dollars-" a hand passes an envelope out of the rear window of a Mercedes to a man wearing blue jeans and a black sleeveless shirt. The shirt had a hood which was pulled up over his head. "-and another ten thousand after the job is done." The voice from inside the car said. "I want it to look like a mugging."

The man shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever. As long as I get paid, it makes no difference to me."

The man stood and watched as the Mercedes drove off. The custom license plate read, "Uchiha" as it drove out of view.

The sun was setting and Naruto decided he was going to go out for a walk and get some air. He walked across the street from the fire station and started making his way across Ryan Park. He was heading down to the Shell station on Broad St, when he heard a familiar voice call out his name.

"Naruto!"

Naruto turned to see Sakura standing on the other side of the small park. He waved to the pinkette and she ran over to greet him.

"Hey Sakura!" Naruto's grin was splayed wide across his face.

Sakura smiled right back. The few times she had seen this man smile at her it was infectious. She couldn't help but smile back. She didn't know him as well as her best friend Ino, but she couldn't help but feel some strange connection to this man, as if he was connected to her distantly somehow.

She returned her attention to the conversation the blonde started.

"You just getting off work?" She asked?

"Nah I've been off all day actually."

"Oh, how come I see you at the fire station every day? I thought you guys only worked every third day."

Naruto shifted his gaze to the ground.

'_Great Naruto, what do you tell her now? She is already out of your league, being a doctor, and now you have to tell her your home IS the fire station? Someone like her is not going to go for an underpaid homeless fire fighter.'_

Naruto was at a loss as to what he should tell her. He didn't want to lie to her, since she already has trust issues with men as it is, but he really didn't want to embarrass himself either.

'_**Don't doubt yourself Kit. I sense a kind spirit in her. She won't look down on you. Give her a chance.'**_

Naruto scratched the back of his head.

Sakura noticed the look of apprehension on his face.

"Sorry, I'm too curious for my own good. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Naruto waved his hands in front of him.

"No it's ok, I was just thinking about something." He looked down at the ground. "You see… I live at the fire station. It's a long story really. Let's just say circumstances haven't always been so favorable for me when I was growing up."

A moment of awkward silence followed as both stood there, not knowing what to say. Finally, it was Naruto that broke the silence first.

"I was on my way to the gas station to grab a quick snack." He started to blush as he chose his next words. "You could, uh- join me if you want. I mean… that is… if you feel like walking with me."

"Actually Naruto-"

'_I knew it, there was no way she could possibly be interested in me. I should have known bett-"_

"-I'm pretty hungry. Wanna go have some dinner with me instead?"

To say Naruto was shocked was an understatement and his stomach betrayed his hunger with a loud growl.

"That settles it." She slipped her arm into Naruto's and tugged him toward Dauphin St. "We are going to get some dinner in that belly of yours before it complains anymore." She looked up at him and smiled. Ino was right; she did have to make the first move, but she was completely sure it was the right move.

The night passed rather quickly. Naruto and Sakura found that they really enjoyed each other's company. They passed most of the night talking about their jobs, hobbies, things they liked, things they disliked. Sakura was very surprised to hear that Naruto was into landscaping. He had told her that since the fire fighters don't really get paid much and they have two days off between each shift, that most of them have side jobs.

"I just happened to pick a side job I liked." He had told her.

He was careful to avoid bringing up anything regarding Kyuubi and the strange marking that was now inscribed on his stomach. The last thing he needed was to scare her off with the weird occurrences that had been the make-up of his day to day routines lately.

Sakura was also careful not to mention anything regarding her talk with her inner self, her strange manifestation of supernatural healing abilities, or the unexpected display of super-human strength from the other day.

The bill finally came and Sakura insisted that they split the bill, but Naruto would hear none of this.

"Don't you know Sakura? A gentleman always pays for his date" Naruto immediately slapped his hand over his mouth, as if the act could keep the spoken words in his mouth and out of Sakura's ears. "What I meant was-"

Sakura smirked at his actions, she decided that the night had passed by too peacefully and a little fun was in order.

"Date? And just what gave you the idea this was a date?" She placed her hands on her hips and tried to give him the most serious look she could muster without betraying her humor.

Now Naruto's face was beet red as he floundered for something to say. After a few minutes of intelligible mumbling from him, Sakura finally cracked. She laughed as loud and as long as she ever remembered.

"I'm just kidding Naruto, sheesh. Lighten up." She gave him a playful punch to his arm.

They left the restaurant and walked back in the direction of the fire station in companionable silence. Occasionally Sakura's hand would brush against Naruto's and her face would heat up at the contact. The contact didn't go unnoticed by the blonde either. He would glance over at her from the corner of his vision. To him, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met. The light from the moon played off her pale pink hair, giving her the image of an angel in the night. She walked with a light step and grace that only added to that image.

Sakura would notice Naruto occasionally glance over at her. The attention was nice. Naruto was nice. Even before tonight, Sakura would find her thoughts would wander to the blonde or be consumed by him completely.

They finally reached the fire station and Naruto turned to the pinkette.

"Do you mind if I walk you home?"

Sakura giggled at his chivalry. "It's only across the street Naruto, I think I can manage."

Naruto visibly deflated and Sakura immediately regretted saying her words. She recovered quickly though.

"I would love it if you walked me home, Naruto."

Naruto's smile instantly returned as Sakura grabbed his hand in hers and they walked across the park to her apartment complex.

Naruto was now completely aware of his hand firmly attached to Sakura's. This was unexpected, but quite nice he thought.

Once they reached the main entrance, Sakura turned to Naruto.

"Well, this is it. Thank you for making sure I got home safe. I had a good time tonight, Naruto. Thanks for that too."

Naruto blushed and scratched the back of his head.

"Heh heh, sure thing Sakura. Anytime."

The two stood there for several minutes, before Naruto spoke again.

"Well it's time I got home. See you again sometime?"

"Sure." She smiled and leaned forward. Naruto immediately noticed what she was doing and tensed up. Sakura placed a chaste kiss on his cheek before pulling back, blushing furiously.

"Good night Naruto."

"Aww how cute." Came a voice from behind them.

They both turned to meet the scruffy, unshaven face of a man wearing blue jeans and a black sleeveless shirt. The man had a hood pulled over his head obscuring his eyes from view. The man pulled something shiny out of his pocket, and Naruto immediately recognized it as a gun. Naruto moved defensively in front of Sakura.

"Look man, we don't want any trouble." Naruto said, keeping his hands up, trying to not make himself a threat to the armed man.

"You are right; you DON'T want any trouble from me. Too bad trouble found you. Now give me your wallet!"

"Alright man, just take it easy. I'll get it right now." Naruto went to reach into his back pocket. Nothing.

'Shit' he thought.

"Look man, I must have left it at the restaurant. It's not in my pocket.

"Don't give me that horseshit. I'm not a fucking idiot. Now, hand over the wallet or I'm gunna shoot your stupid ass for not giving it to me from the start." The man grinned evilly.

"Look man I'm tellin' ya I don't have my wal-" two gunshots rang out and Naruto fell to the ground.

"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed.

Naruto's vision went black and he knew no more.


	12. Chapter 12: The Lazarus Effect

AN-

Thanks guys for being so patient in waiting for the next chapter to be posted. I have been really busy with the Fire Department, raising my family and getting ready for the new baby, all while trying to finish my degree. So finding time to write creatively has been very scarce. Anyhow, I have finally managed to garner some time to write a bit more, so without further delay, the next Chapter in my story.

Chapter 12: The Lazarus Effect

"Naruto!"

Sakura screamed for help. She looked in every direction and it seemed like the park had become a ghost town. She started to panic then looked across the street.

'_The fire station! Someone will be there for sure._'

Her hopes faltered when she saw that none of the fire trucks usually in the bays were there.

'_They must be out on an emergency call already.'_

Sakura cursed her bad luck. She looked in her purse for her cell phone. Gone. She must have left it at the restaurant with Naruto's wallet. She had to think quickly. Naruto was losing a lot of blood and wouldn't survive much longer. She went to try and pick him up, but he was much larger than her and too heavy.

'_Come on, this isn't really happening is it?'_ Terror was rising with each passing second. She had finally found a decent guy and now he was going die because she couldn't help him.

Sakura tried again, this time with a need; a need to save the life of a person she cared about. She felt that familiar strength flow into her entire body and she hefted him up and onto her shoulder. She quickly made a bee-line for her apartment complex. She knew what she had to do.

With no one at the fire station to help, no cell phone to call an ambulance, and no one else anywhere around to help, she came to the ultimate conclusion that she was going to have to operate on him herself, in her apartment, with little to no real medical equipment if she was going to save him.

She managed to get her apartment door open and quickly placed Naruto on the table in her dining room after clearing the items from it. With practiced ease, recalling her schooling on emergency wound management; she removed his shirt and inspected his wounds. He had one gunshot wound to the center of his chest and one in his abdomen. She ran to her bathroom and gathered hot water, towels and her medic kit she carried from med-school and quickly ran back to the table where he lay.

She pulled large bundles of gauze from her bag and set them aside. She palpated the area around the gunshot wounds. The bullets were in deep and luckily the one in the center of his chest just missed his heart.

She knew one thing for sure. Those bullets had to come out, but she had no tools.

'_He is losing blood fast and the bleeding won't stop until the bullets are out.'_

She thought back to the old man who had a stroke and how she found and removed his blood clot.

"I guess there is no other way."

She placed her hands over the wound and concentrated. She imagined the chest cavity, the location of the organs and saw them in her mind. She found the object that didn't belong and the damage that it had wrought. Somehow it had managed to ricochet off a rib bone and pierce his left lung. She saw the familiar green glow envelope the bullet and withdrew it from his chest.

Once the bullet was removed even more blood flowed from the wound. Apparently the bullet was pressed against an open artery and he was starting to bleed out fast. She was about to start applying her healing to the flesh and organs to try and knit them together when something pushed back.

It felt similar to the force that filled her with strength, but on an entirely different and larger scale altogether. She stepped back, watching as an orange glow surrounded Naruto's body. An unseen force lifted Naruto off the table and suspended him in the air. His whole body tilted forward until it was as if he were standing upright in mid-air. His eyes snapped open, but where blue irises once were, there was only orange light.

"**It has been many ages since I have seen your face Sakura. It is good to see you again. Please do not be confused or scared. I am weakened from this unfamiliar wound and will need your help. Please come with me."**

'_**It's been a while since he has seen me? What in the world is he talki-'**_

An orange appendage separated from the mass of orange glow and touched Sakura on the forehead. She promptly fell unconscious.

When she came to, she quickly realized she was not in her apartment anymore. Her head swiveled from side to side trying to discern where in fact she was right now.

"Hello?" She meekly queried.

She stood up and only then, realized she was actually standing in ankle deep water. She noticed walls on either side of her, lined with rusty pipes. The voice from before beckoned to her again.

"**Come Sakura, there is much you must see."**

Sakura only nodded and walked down the hallway toward a light. As she exited the hallway into a large room, she almost stumbled as the floor seemed to drop another foot, bringing the water up to her knees. This, however, was trivial to the view before her.

In the center of the room, on a large Dias surrounded by four torches, was a large swirling red liquid mass. She soon realized the illumination of the room was provided by this mass hovering just a few feet above the Dias. She moved closer, curiosity overriding her fear.

"**Don't be frightened Sakura. I will not harm you. In fact, at one time I had been forbidden to."**

The booming voice chuckled at his personal joke.

"**I am sure you have a lot of questions. 'Why am I here?' 'What is this place?' Am I correct?"**

Sakura nodded dumbly.

"**I brought you here because I believe you care a great deal for Naruto. I also brought you here to show you that Naruto is not exactly what he seems. I think it is easier this way to show you what and who he is than waiting on him to tell you, because if it were up to him, he would probably never tell you."**

The voice laughed a throaty laugh.

Sakura nodded that she understood, although she was entirely sure that she was dreaming now. She decided to play along.

"You said you know me. How is this possible when we have never met?"

"**We knew each other long ago, in another time and another place. The Naruto you see now is in fact a reincarnation of a great hero from hundreds of years ago; although, until recently, he had no idea that I was still with him. He has no recollection of his past; only what few images I have shown him. You Sakura are also a reincarnation. In that time you were someone very important to him. You were his greatest source of strength. The two of you helped end a very bad time in that age."**

Sakura could only stare in wide eyed wonder as the voice told its tale.

"So I guess you have already answered why you brought me here, I guess I should ask where we are and how I was brought here."

"**Ah, yes. That is a bit easier to explain. You see, when you were healing Naruto, your spirit intermingled with mine. That was how I was able to bring you here with me. As to the where… we are inside Naruto's mind."**

Sakura flinched slightly at the last part.

"So you are saying we are in Naruto's head right now? How is that even possible?"

"**We are not exactly 'in his head' as you say. It is more that I have invited a sort of physical manifestation of Naruto's consciousness. You are kind of like a visitor in his mind." **After a slight pause in the description he continued. **"Your friend, the Yamanaka, should be able to explain it better."**

'_Ino? How does he know Ino, and what would she know about entering minds?'_

The voice answered her unspoken question.

"**She knows quite a bit more than she would like to tell you, or perhaps, that ability has not manifested itself just yet. In either case, I want to give you a warning. The Uchiha man is dangerous, and more evil than you can imagine. Don't turn your back on him for a second."**

Sakura understood that much. She only had one more question on her mind and it was burning a hole in her head to get out.

"Who are you exactly?"

After a long silence the voice spoke.

"**I was once this boy's enemy in another life. He pitted his will against mine, the strongest demon of the elemental nations, and he won. He actually won, and eventually, over time, he won me over completely with his genuine care for others and his ability to make a friend with anyone he met, even if they were an enemy. I owe him much, so much that I feel a thousand life times would not be enough time to pay him back. I am his companion through time, one of his best friends and the entity of power that resides inside of him. I am the Kyuubi, Nine-Tailed Demon Fox."**

The mass swirled about until it took the form of a gigantic red fox with nine large swishing tails.

"**It is time for you to go now. He will be awake soon I will begin to heal his body from here. Goodbye for now Sakura. We shall meet again I'm sure."**

With that Sakura felt like she was falling and everything went black.

She came to lying on her side on the floor. Naruto was still hovering in the air, just as he had been. She noticed the orange tendrils surround his body and the wounds immediately started closing at such a rapid rate that it left her baffled.

'_There is no way it is humanly possible that someone could heal their body that fast. I guess I wasn't dreaming after all.'_

After the last wound closed Naruto's body gently alighted on the table and started to slump forward. Sakura was quickly there to catch him. She carried him over to the couch to let him recuperate from the ordeal. No doubt healing that fast used almost all the stored energy in his body. Once she was satisfied that he was in fact ok and not in mortal danger, she pulled a chair over to his side and fell fast asleep, completely exhausted from the ordeal herself. Her last thoughts before slipping completely unconscious…

'_We have a lot to talk about Naruto.'_


	13. Author's Note

Author's Note:

It has been quite a while since I updated. I had much of chapter 13 written, but sadly I lost my hard drive and the back-up that I had did not recover like it should have. So I have had to start from scratch. I will be updating this story as soon as creativity allows me to.

Also, in response to the negative reviews on this story. I will say this to all readers who venture into my story… This story is rated "M" for a reason. There are adult subjects that are covered in this story and situations that are uncomfortable for readers. Regardless, I am not going to change my story to suit every person who comes along with their 'two cents worth' opinions. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, but ultimately I will write this story the way I see fit. If this is a problem. Don't read my story. Simple as that. If you want to flame, flame somewhere else. Don't try to discourage the readers who understand the complexities of REAL life and don't mind reading about them in my story. "M" means "Mature." Please see that you enter my story with that in mind. If you are not mature enough to talk about or read controversial topics, I advise you find something else to read.

From this point forward negative reviews without some form of CONSTRUCTIVE criticism will be automatically reported for abuse. Refrain from telling me only what you disliked, and try to tell me what YOU would do to change it or write it differently.

That is all.

-Silent


	14. Chapter 13: Evasion Foiled!

Chapter 13: Evasion Foiled! The secret is out!

The sun shone through the shutters of Sakura's Apartment, playing a slender ray of light along the carpet. The light ended on the familiar face of the blonde, who found himself lying on a couch. Exactly _who_ the couch belonged to, he wasn't sure. He sat up and his head immediately started swimming. Nausea almost overcame him as he had to lay back and gain his bearings. He stifled vomit threatening to revolt against his wishes of keeping it where it belonged. When his vision returned to normal and he felt that he could stand without needing to hold himself up against the back of the couch, he was finally able to take in his surroundings. Cozy, was probably the best term he could use to describe the place he was in. Everything was neat and tidy and had its own place among all the other furnishings. A soft, almost indiscernible snoring sound grabbed his attention and he immediately noticed a mop of tousled pink hair connected to a body sleeping upright in a chair nearby. His chest was itchy he noticed and only then realized that he wasn't wearing his shirt. He looked over at the table and noticed a pile of tattered rags covered in red dye. He quietly slipped around the sleeping girl looking for his shirt. When he neared the table he realized with a shock that the pile of rags was his shirt and that the dye was not dye at all. It was blood. The events of the night before slammed into him and he began to turn them over in his head. The dinner, the walk home. The man demanding his wallet, the gun, then it got hazy. He remembered something, but he was pretty sure it was just his mind playing tricks. There was no way that Sakura would be having a conversation with another sentient being inside his mind. Right? The more he replayed what he could remember, the more he was starting to decide that maybe it was a good idea if he left before Sakura woke up. She would undoubtedly have questions that he knew he simply could not answer right now. Hell, he had questions too. He noticed a clean white T-shirt draped over the back of the couch. It was too big for her, so she must have set it aside for him. He quickly put the shirt on and walked over to the pinkette. Careful not to wake her, he gently lifted her in his arms and placed her on the couch. He found a comforter folded up on a nearby chair and placed it over her to keep her warm. Her hair was matted, obviously from sweat the night before. She must have worked hard through the night to ensure that he was going to be ok. She still had blood smears on her face and shirt. His blood. He shuddered just thinking about how close he came to death the night before. He lingered near her sleeping form a minute longer, mumbled a silent 'thank you' and turned to leave her apartment.

Reaching for the doorknob he froze as a voice called out to him.

"Just going to leave without saying goodbye?"

He turned and looked back at Sakura. Naruto determined that she was a ninja, because he never heard her move.

"I… well, you see…" Naruto fumbled for words, but continually came up short.

"Don't worry about it. You don't have to hide it from me."

Naruto's mouth worked open and closed, but nothing intelligible came out.

Sakura moved toward Naruto and placed her hand on the open door, pushing it closed. She grabbed Naruto's hand and guided him back to the couch.

"Come sit with me. Lets talk."

"So what you are telling me… is that you have some kind of 'spirit' that lives in your 'mind' and gives you 'super powers?'" Sakura asked with a skeptical look, despite the previous nights events that she had witnessed.

"Yeah… pretty much sums it up. My very first encounter was just a sensation. It didn't even _talk_ to me until the night I met you."

Sakura seemed surprised by that. "It talks to you?"

"Well not quite like a two way conversation, but it has helped me in tight situations before."

He looked at the floor and focused on the patterns in the carpet, trying his best to avoid the scrutinizing eye contact of the girl in front of him. Sakura suddenly became acutely aware of just how uncomfortable the blonde must have been talking about this subject with her. She decided since he was being so open with her that she should be open with him as well. They had, after all, saved each other's life. Sakura went on to tell Naruto about the unusual healing ability that she has and the 'miracle healings' she performed at the hospital. She was very surprised by how at ease she was around him. Even over the years that she had dated Sasuke, she had never felt this comfortable around him. Naruto gave off a warmth and comfort that completely overshadowed the cold nature of the calculating Uchiha. Before they knew it, the day had slipped away and night was fast approaching again.

"Well, it is getting late. I had better get going. I am sure the guys at the station are wondering where I am, and I am almost certain Kakashi is going to give me the 'third degree' when I get back. Besides, I need to go back by the restaurant and pick up my wallet. Wouldn't want anyone runnin' around town pretending to be me, now would I?"

Sakura smiled at his playfulness and nodded her agreement. She walked him to the door and opened it, letting him out, however, before she could close the door, he quickly turned, a serious look adorning his face.

"Thank you." He reached and pulled her into a hug. At first… she froze. The all too recent memory of her horrid night with that bastard Uchiha bubbled to the surface. She stifled a whimper and focused on the fact that this was Naruto and not the bastard that forced his way into her. She finally returned the embrace as a tear rolled down her cheek. Sensing the atmosphere of the moment, Naruto politely released the embrace, gave her a brief smile, and turned the other way, making his way toward the elevator.

He arrived at the station after retrieving his wallet from the restaurant and made his way up stairs. The lights were out in the dorm, suggesting that the on duty shift was already asleep, trying to get some rest in the event they had a fire later in the night. Naruto hurried upstairs and quickly showered and changed for bed. As he lay in bed, he thought about the conversation he had with Sakura and how easily she accepted the news of his 'unique situation.' He smiled, feeling like a weight had inevitably been lifted by sharing his secret with another person.


	15. Chaper 14: Freedom of Thought

Chapter 14: Freedom of Thought

Ino was in a particularly testy mood this morning. Sakura had called in sick at the last minute before shift change with no explanation and she had been called in to work her shift.

"I swear, when I get my hands on her…"

Ino rapped her fingers on the counter as she sat in the nurse's station. At least it was a reasonably quiet day… aside from hypochondriac in room 307, complaining of everything under the sun from exotic diseases to common headaches. The woman frequently 'visited' the hospital at least once a week with some new ailment that had not been discovered on this side of the world yet. There was a small 'ding' that came from the monitor at the desk and the light for room 307 lit up. It was Ino's turn to go deal with her this time, but she really just wasn't in the mood to placate the woman. She looked over at the other nurses who were busy talking about who-knows-what.

"Cindy, would you mind taking care of this one please? I really don't feel like dealing with her today."

The nurse grumbled but nodded her head.

'_Lazy bitch thinks she can order us all around when Dr. Sakura is out for a day. I can't believe she is power trippin' on us already. Lazy ass needs to get up and do it herself.'_

A vein popped on Ino's forehead.

"What… was THAT?" Ino growled.

The other nurse froze mid-stride.

"I sorry Dr. Ino, but what do you mean?" the nurse nervously looked at Ino.

"I asked you what that was that you said." Ino ground out.

"But… but Dr. Yamanaka, I SWEAR, I didn't say anything." The nurse was now wide-eyed and panicking. _'How on earth… there is no way she could know what I was thinking. Maybe I mumbled it and didn't realize it? No, I'm pretty sure I didn't say anything.'_

Ino glared at the girl for a second, and then waved dismissively, giving up on the argument.

"Whatever."

The young nurse visibly relaxed and turned to go check on the patient.

'_Thank God, for a second I thought she could hear my thoughts.'_

Ino visibly stiffened.

'_No way… There is no way I heard what I think I just heard.'_

Almost as if on cue, Ino heard the other women chime in.

'_Oh my gosh, what is her problem?'_

'_She certainly is grumpy today…'_

'_Looks like someone needs to get laid.'_

Ino was looking at the other women, mortified that they would so openly say something like that about her, WHILE she was right THERE. Immediately after the shock she realized something very important. The women's mouths were not moving with what they were saying. In fact… the room was disturbingly devoid of noise, save the beeping from the console.

Like a panic stricken animal cornered by its stalker, Ino bolted from the room and headed for the nearest restroom. She felt sick.

Ino spent most of the shift walking the hallways of her ward. She had no desire to be around people right now.

'_There is no way that something like this can happen. There is no such thing as being able to read people's minds… right?'_

She laughed at her musing as she realized that she was actually waiting on an answer to her question. She fumbled around in her pocket and felt something unfamiliar in it. She pulled out a hard plastic card and flipped it over. It was the driver's license that she had taken from that fire fighter's file a while ago. She was surprised that she still had it. She had meant to get in contact with this Naruto guy ever since the night he came into her ER passed out and injured. She wanted an explanation as to how he was able to heal so fast, not to mention the heroic feats that were claimed to be accomplished by him that night he saved Sakura from the fire. Ino's look of surprise turned to a small, devious grin.

'_Well, if I'm a mind reader, then perhaps it's time I got some answers from the evasive Mr. Uzumaki.'_

With her goal in mind she decided that as soon as her shift was over, she would start her next quest.

Finding Naruto.

But before that… she wanted to try something first.

She turned down the hallway and stopped at room 307. She reached for the door and hesitated for a bit before finally walking in.

The patient was lying in the bed, TV remote in hand, flipping through channels when Ino walked in. She quickly turned off the TV and rolled her head to the side, eliciting a groan as she placed a hand over her stomach.

"Dr. Yamanaka, please tell me it's nothing serious."

Ino gave her a blank look as she contemplated how she was going to do this. She placed a finger to her lips in thought. The patient waited in silence with a look of apprehension on her face as she waited for some form of reply or acknowledgement from the blonde doctor. Finally, Ino's eyes brightened.

'_If this works…'_

She grabbed the clipboard at the end of the bed and briefly scanned the pages. After a few minutes of perusal, she placed the clipboard back in its place and walked to the head of the bed to confront the 'sick' patient.

"Ms. Claire, it seems we need to do a few tests to try and confirm a suspicion. We will have to put you under for this test."

The woman's eyes widened at the obvious seriousness of the situation.

"Is it that serious?" the woman asked, panic lacing her query.

Ino fought to stifle a giggle. This was too easy.

"We don't know yet. These tests should provide us with the answers we need."

The woman, still visibly pale, only nodded her head.

"Whatever you think is best doctor."

Ino grabbed a vial and a syringe and proceeded to inject a clear liquid into the woman's IV bag. The effect was noticeable within minutes and the woman started to nod off. Ino checked her vitals to ensure she was still ok and was pleased to see the woman was fully unconscious. She made a mental note of the time the sedative was administered. 3:45pm.

'_Ok, let's try something.'_

Ino placed her hands on each side of the woman's head and closed her eyes. At first there was nothing. Then she suddenly found herself in a long hallway, doors lining each side and stretching as far as she could see. Each door, she noticed, had a small window with a small luminescence partially lighting it from the inside. Ino walked over to the first door on her right and peered into the window. Her eyes widened immediately.

'_These are memories!'_

She continued walking for what seemed like hours down the hall way, but no matter how far or fast she walked, it seemed like she could never reach the other end. It was nowhere in sight. She turned and looked back, but the hallway went on forever back in the direction from which she came.

'_This is weird. God, I hope I don't get stuck in this place.'_

A thought came to her mind and she decided to experiment with this strange ability she had. She closed her eyes again and thought about the woman's 'ailment'. She thought about how to make the woman forget about her silly fears of constantly being sick. When she opened her eyes she was at a single door. There were no other doors on the hallway anymore. This door however had no knob, and no window. She placed her hand on the door and immediately felt the fear, anxiety and hopelessness that this woman obviously felt from what she considered to be real ailments. Ino genuinely felt sorry for the woman. No one should have to live like this. She closed her eyes and focused on the feelings. She imagined feelings without fear and anxiety wrapping around and overlapping the current bad feelings. Once she was confident that she could no longer feel the negative feelings she opened her eyes. She was back in the hospital room, hands still on either side of the woman's head. Ino was covered with sweat. She looked at the clock. 3:46pm.

'_What? I was in there for only a minute…. But it felt like hours to me.'_

Ino dropped her hands to her side, still in shock of what happened and what she did. Suddenly, she felt panic stricken. What had she just done? She just invaded someone's mind. How was that even possible? It shouldn't be possible, but she had done it. Without another thought she turned and left the room as fast as she could without running.

Naruto lazily reclined in his chair at the station. It was late in the afternoon and he hadn't been on one single emergency call. He reached over to the arm of the adjacent couch and grabbed the TV remote, and then proceeded to change the stations one by one, not really settling on one or another. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Sakura and the long conversation they had. Never in his life had he trusted anyone other than he guys at the station. Hell, he was pretty sure he trusted her more than he trusted Kakashi… and he was like a father to him. He let his eyes slide closed, knowing it was close to dinner time, Naruto figured he would get a quick power-nap. He had just closed his eyes when the alarm went off in the station, signaling an emergency. The fire tone rang out and he didn't bother listening too much to the destination, instead just running to the pole. He slid down to the engine bay and quickly put on his gear and hopped on the truck as it started to pull out of the station. He turned around and leaned forward.

"Hey Cap', what do we have?"

Kakashi turned pulling his nomex hood over his head. "There is a fire down at the government building. Apparently there was an explosion." His eyes hardened. "Naruto, this is probably going to be a MCI1. Be prepared to pull casualties… remember… living wounded first. If they show no signs of life, move on till we are sure everyone is out."

It took them only minutes to arrive at the Government Plaza. As Naruto stepped off the truck, he looked up and saw that a large corner-portion of the building from floors 5 thru 8 was nothing more than a smoldering hole. Glass and debris were still falling away in large pieces. He and Kakashi cordoned off the area from the public and then headed up stairs to see who they could still help.

As the blonde disappeared into the main doorway, he was unaware that another set of eyes was watching him. From the crowd of onlookers, Sasuke Uchiha was watching as his handy work unfolded before him. This by far was the best one yet. He reveled in the screams and panic induced stupor of the people around him. All of this… because of him. He relished it. It brought him almost to a state of arousal. Nothing was more satisfying. He turned and walked away, pleased with his masterpiece.

Across town as set of beeps went off.

Sakura looked down at her smart phone.

The message read:

MASS INCIDENT.

GOVERNMENT PLAZA.

UNKNOWN CASUALTIES.

CALLING ALL AVAILABLE PERSONNEL TO RESPOND.

Sakura quickly pocketed her phone and grabbed her bag to head down to her car.

On another side of town Ino received the same message on her phone while driving home. She cursed her luck and turned her car around, heading back toward downtown.

Well, hopefully this chapter is a bit better than the last one I pushed out. I was kind of hasty to get CH 13 out since it had been a while since I updated. It was nowhere near the caliber of the original Ch 13 I had completed prior to my computer taking an epic dump on me. Anyhow… I know it seemed like Ino stepping into her power rather easily, but I assure you it's no coincidence. I will explain more in the next chapter why it was so easy for her and why it seemed like she just automatically knew what she was doing.

Also, here is the field definition of MCI for you non EMS peoples!

MCI1: Abbreviation for Mass Casualty Incident. In Emergency Medicine, this does not necessarily mean that there will be a lot of dead, only that there will be a large number of patients, wounded or otherwise.


	16. Ch 15: In the Darkness, there is Light

Ok so I know it has been a looooong time since I updated this story. I really just haven't had the time nor inspiration to update either of my current fics. So sorry for the delay, but I didn't want to put out something half baked. Anyhow, enough rambling from me. Please enjoy the next chapter of _Inferno._

Also… If you haven't figured it out by now, I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto does… and I am jealous of that fact.

Chapter 15: In the Darkness, there is Light

He hurried up the flights of stairs trying to reach the first of the floors that had been damaged in the explosion. Taking steps two and three at a time, Naruto all but sprinted to the affected floors above him, leaving the rest of his crew behind. Within just barely a minute he was at the 5th floor. Naruto pulled his glove off and pressed the back of his hand to the door, checking for heat. When he was satisfied that there was none, he placed his glove back on his hand and opened the door. Black smoke billowed out as a result.

"_This isn't good. Smoke this far down only means that the upper floors are full with it already. I better make this quick."_

He turned and yelled back down the stairwell.

"Cap! I'm going ahead, I have a radio, checking floor 5 for survivors, there is some smoke on the 4th floor… can you guys check that floor and the ones below? I'll call if I find anything."

He heard an 'aight' and then ducked in the door. Naruto weaved his way down the hallways of the Government Plaza. Running his hand against the wall he came across something hard. He tugged on it and it fell with little effort onto the floor. He reached up to his helmet and turned on his flashlight. The object he pried loose was an evacuation plan for the building. He took notice to how many rooms there were.

"_This is gunna take forever. Maybe I should have asked Kakashi to come help me before sending him to the other floors."_

Lately he had been having more encounters with the spirit that resided within him. They would occasionally talk about who he was in his previous life and how he changed the world in that era. Thinking back on all those conversations reminded him of one thing he had learned. He decided to try something he remembered from some of the visions that the Kyuubi would show him.

"Man I hope this works…"

He closed his eyes and focused on the spiritual pressure he now felt in the center of himself. It was ever-present and very noticeable now that he had better access and was used to how it felt within him. He concentrated on gathering some of that energy and imagined compressing it into a ball at his navel. Once he felt he had enough energy compressed, he opened his eyes and allowed his mental hold on the energy to drop. The effect was almost immediate. The energy pulsed from his body and went in every direction like a shockwave. As the wave washed over everything in its path, Naruto could get a sense of everything within range as if he were seeing it with his own eyes. Just below him on the 4th floor he could "see" Kakashi and the other two guys on his crew moving room to room, looking for any stranded survivors. The pulse continued moving until it reached the roof of the building. Naruto's eyes widened when he received feedback of one person still in the building, two floors above him. He quickly ran to the stairwell and made his way to the 7th floor. The smoke was getting heavier so he placed his SCBA mask on and tuned on his air supply. Once he made it to the 7th floor he checked the door for heat like before and then entered. It was black with smoke. He got low to the ground and sent another pulse. With the feedback he received he made his way down the hallway as if he could see quite clearly in spite of the fact that, at this moment, he couldn't actually see a damn thing. As he neared the office where the unconscious woman lay, Naruto heard a loud and long groan. Instinctively he vaulted himself into the office just as the fake ceiling dropped down and blocked off the only way out of the office.

"Well this is just great… could it get any worse?" he said to no one in particular. Almost immediately a large portion of the floor above collapsed in on top of the section of fake ceiling that fell before it, bringing with it a large mass of burning debris from the floor above.

'_Great, so now I am trapped with an unconscious woman, on the 7__th__ floor, with no way out. THIS IS EXACTLY HOW I PLANNED MY DAY!'_

He groaned, knowing that complaining about the problem wasn't going to solve it for him. He considered his options. In reality there really was only one, but it was suicide at best. He looked at the window, then down at the rolling office chair. Quickly he decided that the two just HAD to meet and threw the chair through the window. The room was immediately flooded with light and the black smoke started to evacuate out of the newly broken window. He checked the woman for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there. He scooped her up and walked to the window, looking to see if there was anything close he might be able to jump to. Naturally, lady luck was not on his side today. He turned his head from side to side, looking for another option.

'_**Hiraishin'**_

He had no idea what that word was, but somehow he also instinctively knew what it meant, and more importantly, knew what he had to do. He looked down at the woman in his care; she was breathing, but shallow and rapid. She needed medical attention immediately. Turning toward the window again he walked right to the very edge. He looked out and caught sight of a pink head of hair. Almost as if he had called her name she looked up and their eyes met. His brow was furrowed, but he still managed to give her a cheesy grin before he jumped, the woman still in his arms.

*****Break*****

Sakura made her way to the incident location. There were emergency vehicles parked to either side of the street for several blocks. Deciding that she had gone as far as she could by car, she parked, changed into a pair of tennis shoes, grabbed her ALS bag out of the back of her car and started walking to the Plaza. She heard someone pull up behind her and turned to see Ino parking her car right behind her own.

"Ino, thank God… I thought I would be doing this by myself." Sakura said, a sigh of relief escaping her red lips.

Her blonde friend and confidante gave her a wry grin, "What? And let you have ALL the fun? As if."

The duo made their way through the maze of debris that littered the ground outside the back of the Plaza. The sound of the crowd that had gathered could be heard around the corner. Sakura and Ino almost rounded the corner when the pinkette felt compelled to stop. Something told her to look up and when she did, she met a set of deep cerulean eyes looking right back at her. Her blonde savior looked her right in the eyes, smiled and then did the last thing she thought she would ever imagine. He jumped.

"NARUTO!" She yelled, gaining the attention of her platinum blonde friend who wasn't too far ahead of her.

Ino came to a screeching halt and turned around to see a panic stricken look on Sakura's face. As she turned to run toward her, something suddenly was in her way. A wall of bright yellow that hadn't been there before was now blocking her view of Sakura.

Both females looked in shock as Naruto seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Naruto looked at each of them, his expression unreadable. That was when both women noticed that he was carrying someone.

"She has suffered severe smoke inhalation. She needs treatment." He stated as if it weren't already obvious.

Both women just looked at him like he had a third arm growing out of his forehead.

"NOW!" he yelled. That got their attention.

Sakura dropped her bag and immediately started to administer oxygen with a non re-breather mask from her bag.

Naruto watched as Sakura tended to the unconscious woman on the sidewalk. Ino moved into his path of sight.

"Naruto… how… what WAS that you did. How can you just appear out of nowhere? I want… no I NEED answer-" Ino was cut off by a loud explosion.

Everyone's attention was diverted to the Plaza. Several of the windows on the 4th floor had blown out and vented heavy smoke and fire.

Naruto suddenly felt a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Kakashi!" He yelled.

He turned back to the two women. "Look, I can't hang around and explain everything right now. I have to get back in there and save my friends. I have a bad feeling that they need me right now."

Ino looked up at him, "And just HOW do you intend to get back up there?"

He turned to her and smiled. "The same way I got down here."

He bent at his knees and felt that familiar tug of energy. Once he was sure it was where he wanted it, he pushed off the ground and jumped into the air… and vanished!

Sakura, who was diligently working on her patient looked at Ino and saw the look of shock and disbelief on her face. She let out a tired sigh.

'_Ino, I know you have a lot of questions right now about a lot of unexplainable things you have just seen, but right now we have to focus on the people here who need us. I swear Naruto and I will sit and explain it when this is all over.'_

"Don't worry about it fore-head. I'll just interrogate you later when this is all over. You better be ready to spill the beans… You and that blonde hunk of yours." She turned and winked at Sakura only to see the pinkette looking at her with shock all over her face. She shrugged it off. "What? Surprised I was actually paying attention to what you said for once?"

Sakura, still in a state of disbelief herself could only shake her head.

"Ino… I didn't SAY anything."

Ino paled. "I guess we both have some explaining to do."

*****BREAK*****

Naruto jumped through the hole left from the explosion. Inside he was met with more thick black smoke and intense heat.

"Kakashi! Where are you?" He frantically pawed at the rubble, trying to find his Captain, long-time friend, and father figure. The smoke was thick and Naruto had forgotten to put his mask back on, but he could care less right now. He HAD to find his crew. He shoved aside large pieces of fallen ceiling and chunks of concrete and rebar. Naruto was coughing and his eyes were watering, partly from the smoke, but mostly from tears and worry. He was about to give up when his hand snagged a piece of cloth. His hopes shot up and he started clearing the debris even faster. He finally cleared the trash away revealing his plug man and best friend, Neji. He was burned pretty badly on one side of his face and his left arm was bent at an angle that clearly defied normal human anatomy. Naruto quickly assessed his vital signs. He was still breathing, although it was shallow. His mask had been blown off his face, though some of the rubber still remained, melted into his cheek and lower jaw. Naruto used what was left of Neji's nomex hood as a quick field bandage and pulled it up to try and stop some of the bleeding from the man's head.

"Neji, it's me Naruto. Look man, this is gunna hurt a lot, but I have to get you outta here!"

Neji only barely acknowledged him with a grunting cough. Quickly Naruto hefted him up onto his shoulders and Neji screamed in pain. Naruto winced, but there was no time to be delicate. With the lack of structural integrity on this floor, it wouldn't be long before it collapsed into the next floor under it; but what really had Naruto panicking was that he still hadn't found Kakashi yet. Naruto scrambled to the doorway leading to the stairwell.

Quickly he kicked the door open and started down the first flight of stairs. Before he could reach the next floor he was greeted by another engine company who was on their way up to help Kakashi and his crew.

Naruto quickly handed Neji off to the crew. "Get him downstairs and to rehab! He's hurt real bad!"

He turned and started back up the stairs, determined to find Kakashi before it was too late.

One of the men reached out and grabbed the back of his coat. "Naruto, wait! Chief has ordered us to pull out. It's getting too dangerous. He has been trying to raise you on the radio, but you guys weren't answering. You have to get out now! The whole place is about to go under!"

"I lost my radio in the debris upstairs. Look I don't have time to argue, but Captain Kakashi is still up there and I need to find him. Get Neji downstairs! I'll be right behind you! Now GO!"

With that Naruto disappeared up the stairwell, the other crew taking the wounded Neji down to be treated.

****BREAK****

Naruto made it back to where he had found Neji and resumed his search. His determination renewed at finding one of his crew, now he just had to find Kakashi. He dug furiously through the rubble, snatching away large blocks of cement as though they were just made of Styrofoam. He pulled away more chunks and then there was a boot.

"Kakashi!" Naruto yelled and quickly made short work of the debris around him. One final piece of concrete lay across the man's chest. Naruto went to move it when a hand shot up and gripped his arm.

"Naruto…" A weak voice strained.

"Cap, thank God I found you. I was freaking out thinking you might have died or someth-"

"Naruto stop." He pointed to the block sitting on his chest. "Look."

Naruto looked and that is when he finally saw it. There were four pieces of steel rebar sticking out of the top of the concrete block. Naruto hadn't seen them at first since they were bent to the side and his eyes were obscured by the smoke. His eyes widened and started to water at the implications. He slowly moved to look behind his Captain, hoping and praying that he wouldn't see what he was sure he would see. Then, he saw the blood, and the rest of the four steel rebar pieces sticking out of Kakashi's back and left side. Naruto stifled a gasp and almost vomited right there.

"Naruto." Kakashi's voice broke him from his stupor. "This place isn't going to last much longer. Get out of here before you die too."

"What do you mean 'too'? You aren't dead yet and I don't intend to let you." The blonde started to cry at this point.

"Naruto. It's ok. I knew when I joined the department that something like this could happen. I knew the risks. I am ok with this, though it isn't the way I wanted to go… but you have so much life ahead of you. Don't die because you tried to save me." A stab of pain lanced through him and he threw his head back in response. He grabbed Naruto's shoulder to get his attention. The floor was creaking and it would only be a matter of minutes now before the floor collapsed.

"Naruto?"

The blonde didn't meet his gaze but answered.

"Yeah?"

"Go."

Kakashi leaned his head back waiting for the end. He quickly realized, however, that Naruto had not moved. He looked over to see that Naruto was still looking down at the ground, his hands clenched at his sides and trembling.

"Naruto, you need to get out of here right no-" 

"NO! I will not leave you behind. I will n**ot lose my precious people. That is my nindo!**"

Then there was a bright flash of light and Kakashi brought up his hand to shield his eye. When he dropped his hand he could not begin to describe what he saw. No longer was Naruto standing in front of him. What once was Naruto was now a man standing in a flowing golden coat. He practically radiated sunlight, yet it didn't burn him. He looked as if he was on fire, yet he felt no heat.

"**I will not leave you here to die Kakashi-sensei."**

'_Sensei?'_ I must be dying. This doesn't make sense. Maybe I am just imagining all this and Naruto has already left like I asked. What he saw next defied all reasoning and reality.

Carefully, Naruto placed a hand on a section of rebar that was between the concrete block and Kakashi's chest. A warm glow emanated from his hand and the section in his palm dissolved. He repeated this process with all four sections of rebar. When the last section Naruto was dissolving was finished, he expected the concrete block to drop on him from the weight, but Naruto casually threw it to the side with a flick of his hand as if it were nothing.

If it weren't for the fact that he had four steel bars running through his chest, Kakashi would have laughed himself silly.

'_So this must be what it is like to die. How strange.'_ And with that, he closed his eyes, resigned to his fate.

Naruto wasn't finished yet. He watched as he placed his hands in a position that was completely alien to him, but at the same time as familiar as breathing.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."**

His own eyes widened when he saw a copy of himself standing beside him. He marveled at the clone and what he must look like.

"Wow! I look cool."

The clone looked at him and a tick mark appeared on his forehead.

"**Idiot. Kakashi-sensei is dying and all you can think of is how cool you look. How the hell did you ever survive the academy?" **The copy sighed and facepalmed. **"Look. Now is not the time. We need to get him out of here and fast. I don't think this place will hold out any longer. You need a fast exit. Pick him up and follow me. Don't question it… just do it."**

Naruto complied… with himself, and picked up Kakashi. The clone then held out his hand. Naruto curiously watched and his eyes widened when he saw a blue ball of energy gather in the clone's hand. It rotated and condensed over and over until it was a vibrating swirling mass of what could only be described as 'energy'. Then the clone smiled at him and slammed the blue sphere into the floor and fell through. Totally confused now, Naruto leaned to the side and looked down the fresh hole in the floor to see the clone still dropping through each floor, straight to the bottom floor. The clone then hit the bottom and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Without warning, Naruto's senses tingled and he was suddenly assaulted with memories of what the clone just did… almost as if he had done it himself. He then remembered what the clone said and trusted that it would work out. He jumped into the hole and prepared for the impact he was almost certain would at least break his legs. He hit the ground and the floor gave slightly under his weight, creating a crater, but his legs held fast and, to his astonishment, he was completely fine. As quickly as it all happened, the golden glow that he was giving off blinked out and he was back in his normal fire gear. He suddenly felt very tired and light-headed. He walked forward to the main doors to the building and stepped out into the sunlight. Then only one thing was left on his mind.

"Sakura, HELP!"


End file.
